By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter
TMU men keep it rolling: After upsetting the nation’s No. 5 NCAA Division II team Findlay on the road Thursday, Thomas More’s Saints kept the winning going Saturday with an 81-52 Great Midwest Athletic Conference home romp over Northwood. The win improved TMU to 12-7 and 7-5 in the GMAC after giving Findlay, 9-1 in the GMAC, its first conference loss and only its second in a 16-2 season.
Back home on Saturday, TMU had it going at both ends of the court against the Timberwolves as senior guard Casey George, out of Pickerington, Ohio, fired in 18 points as he reached his career 1,000th point. Sharing game high-point honors was redshirt freshman Kai Simpson (Lexington Frederick Douglass), with 18 as well as five rebounds. Mitchell Rylee, out of Covington Catholic and Ft. Mitchell, just missed a double-double with 10 points, nine rebounds.
Now sixth in the GMAC, the Saints travel to Owensboro Wednesday to face third-place Kentucky Wesleyan in an 8:45 p.m. game at the Sportscenter.
Saints’ women whip up on Northwood, too: In the opener of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Saints started the sweep of the Timberwolves with a 64-55 win, improving their record to 8-11 overall (5-6 GMAC).
Junior transfer Sereniti Webb out of Simon Kenton led TMU with 17 points and four rebounds. Alaina Kenney added 15 points, four rebounds while junior Rylee Turner out of Newport Central Catholic scored 13 points with six rebounds and five assists and sophomore Morgan Hunt had 12 points with eight rebounds.
The TMU women next head to Owensboro Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff against Kentucky Wesleyan in the first game of a doubleheader.
NKU men, women basketball drop two in Horizon Saturday
Playing at home, the NKU men were crushed, 79-59, by a visiting Milwaukee team for their fifth straight conference loss Friday that saw NKU fall to 9-12 overall and 4-6 in the Horizon. Milwaukee improves to 15-7, good for second place in the Horizon at 8-3.
After NKU fell behind by 15 – 41-26 – at halftime, this one was pretty much over. Grad student Trey Robinson led NKU with 11 points but the top performances game from junior transfers — guard Dan Gherezgher, off the bench, with nine points and five assists, and post player Keeyan Itejere with 10 points and four rebounds.
In its next game, NKU heads to Detroit for a Horizon League matchup with Detroit Mercy (6-16, 2-9 Horizon) Thursday (7 p.m.)
NKU women close but not close enough vs. Green Bay: Against a Green Bay team that is now 10-1 in the Horizon (17-5 overall), the NKU women cut it to 47-42 after three quarters but late turnovers cost the Norse in a 64-56 loss Saturday at Truist Arena.
In its first year under the NCAA’s winningest coach in Jeff Hans, over from Thomas More, NKU is 4-7 in the Horizon (7-15 overall) and in a four-way tie for sixth.
NKU’s Macey Blevins led all scorers with 16 followed by Halle Idowu, who double-doubled with 12 points, 11 rebounds. Abby Wolterman nearly double-doubled with 11 points and nine rebounds. And Mya Meredith added to the NKU balance with eight rebounds, two blocked shots and a big defensive effort limiting Green Bay’s Natalie McNeal to seven points on two-of-16 shooting from the field.
NKU’s three-game homestand ends Wednesday against Detroit Mercy in a 6 p.m. game.
1,000-point club for Dixie’s Derry, Campbell’s Jackson: Dixie Heights’ Griffen Derry and Campbell County’s Garyn Jackson each joined the career 1,000-point Club this weekend with Derry getting the four he needed in a 23-point effort in his 12-3 Colonels’ team’s 70-42 win over Franklin County. “Hard work and dedication make him one of the best shooters in the state,” tweeted Dixie coach Scott Code.
Jackson, who led his Camels to the 10th Region championship a year ago, “is no longer 11 points away (from 1,000),” tweeted Campbell County coach Brent Sowder after his Camels’ 69-36 win over Harrison County. “The young man is a phenomenal example to all athletes. Thankful to have been able to coach him these last few years.”
CovCath finishes 4 games in 5 days with a win: Junior guard Athens McGillis needed 15 points to join the 1,000-point Club for the Colonels Saturday against the Centerville (Ohio) Elks and finished with just 10. But his final basket at the buzzer gave CovCath a winning finish in a 40-39 thriller and allowed the Colonels to survive as difficult a stretch as any faced in recent seasons here. With 10 points in CovCath’s tight 40-39 win over the Centerville (Ohio) Elks Saturday at Thomas More, the Colonels improved to 15-4. McGillis will get his next shot at 1,000 Wednesday at Jackson’s Campbell County. In games Wednesday and Friday before Centerville, both on the road, CovCath lost – in overtime – to Cooper and Louisville Trinity.
Cooper keeps up with Classic win: The 10-4 Jaguars finished their big week with a 64-51 road win over Fleming County in the Lake Kelly Classic to move into the No. 2 spot in the Ninth Region behind Dixie Heights in the RPI rankings.