Feb. 19, 2004

Box Score

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Pat Cary sank two free throws with :01 left in the third overtime Saturday to lift Northern Kentucky to a 93-90 upset of 11th-ranked Lewis in a Great Lakes Valley Conference men's basketball game.

Lewis (19-4, 13-3 GLVC) was denied its 20th victory for a second time in three days. More importantly, the Flyers' lead in the GLVC dwindled to one game over Southern Indiana, a 117-78 winner over Missouri-St. Louis. Lewis hosts USI on Saturday.

Cary's winning free throws gave NKU (15-11, 8-8) a 91-90 lead. He provided the final margin by adding a basket at the horn, as the Norse denied Lewis a final desperation shot.

The Flyers also led in the waning seconds of regulation and the first overtime. After two Monta McGhee (Chicago, Ill./Robeson) free throws with :22 left in regulation gave Lewis a 69-67 edge, Jesse Rupe hit a pair from the stripe with :05 remaining to send the Flyers into their first overtime affair of the season.

After NKU sprinted to a 77-71 lead in the first extra session, Steve Turner (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) and Demitrius Hunter (Silvis, Ill./United Township) combined to score the next eight points - the final two coming from Hunter at the foul line with :20 left - for a 79-77 Lewis lead. But Cary's layup with :04 on the clock knotted the score again.

All the scoring in the second overtime happened in a 46-second span. Cary made a layup at 3:53 for an 81-79 Norse advantage. After Lewis' DeAndre Williams (Chicago, Ill./St. Francis de Sales) and NKU's Adam Howell exchanged 3-pointers, Sidney Holmes (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice)' layup at 3:07 made it 84-all, a score that stuck until the buzzer.

Two Rupe free throws were the first points of the third overtime. Williams gave Lewis an 88-86 edge with a pair of buckets, but NKU reclaimed the lead on Steve Purdon's conventional 3-point play with :20 left. Lewis went back on top 11 seconds later on a layup by Hunter, only to see Cary provide the final heroics.

Northern Kentucky took a 37-35 lead into intermission after leading most of the first half. The Norse's largest cushion was seven points on three occasions.

Lewis took control with a 14-2 second-half outburst that gave the Flyers a 12-point lead. McGhee began the run with a free throw at 15:22 that broke a 43-all tie, and baskets by Holmes, McGhee and Hunter followed.

Rupe interrupted the Lewis scoring binge with two free throws, but the Flyers resumed the flurry with Anthony's Scala's 3-pointer. Holmes made two free throws and McGhee concluded the run with a layup that gave the Flyers a 57-45 cushion at the 10:34 mark.

Unfortunately, NKU assembled a 20-7 spurt that put the Norse in front 65-64 with 2:33 to play. Lewis regained the lead at 1:16 on Turner's 3-point play, and Rupe's basket made it 67-all with :43 left.

McGhee scored a game-high 28 points and added 10 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season and fifth in the last seven games. Hunter scored 18 points and tallied six assists, three steals and two blocks.

Holmes scored 12 points and collected a personal career-high and team season-high 17 rebounds. Turner scored 13 points and Williams added nine points and five rebounds.

Rupe, who was 13 of 16 at the foul line, finished with 25 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Cary scored 23 points and led all players with 18 rebounds, while Purdon scored 23 points and Adam Howell added 10.

NKU was 8 of 22 from 3-point range to Lewis' 3 of 15. The Norse earned an eight-point advantage at the foul line (25 of 34 to Lewis' 17 of 21) and outrebounded the Flyers 48-43.

Lewis plays its final two regular-season home games this week, hosting Kentucky Wesleyan Thursday at 7:30 and Southern Indiana Saturday at 3.

2/14/04