#HLMBB Recap: #MotorCityMadness Day Two
Joey Yashinsky
No. 8 Cleveland State 89, No. 1 Northern Kentucky 80
In Saturday’s fourth and final game on the Motor City Madness schedule, it was the No. 8 seed Cleveland State Vikings moving on after a thrilling 89-80 victory over the No. 1 seed Northern Kentucky Norse.
With the Little Caesars Arena crowd in a frenzy and less than three minutes to play, All-Horizon League First Team selection Drew McDonald sank a pair of free throws to give Northern Kentucky a 75-74 lead. But the underdog Vikings responded with a trio of clutch plays to swing the momentum to the Cleveland State side.
Senior Kenny Carpenter rebounded an airball and put it back in, drawing a foul in the process. Later, All-Freshman selection Tyree Appleby found fellow rookie Stefan Kenic with a blind pass for a corner 3. Appleby capped the sequence with a deep 3 from the top of the key as the shot clock ticked down.
The 9-0 burst put Cleveland State in front 83-75 with just over a minute to play and Northern Kentucky could draw no closer.
The Norse came out firing at the start, scoring the game’s first 11 points. The lead grew to 21-6 helped by seven points from McDonald.
But Cleveland State slowly battled back, courtesy of a balanced attack. Eight Vikings played in the first half with each player scoring between two and six points.
At intermission, Northern Kentucky led 33-28. McDonald was the game’s high scorer with nine.
The second half was played at a fever pitch, with an unyielding intensity typically reserved for a tournament championship game.
Cleveland State senior Bobby Word dropped in a 3 to tie the game at 33. Drew McDonald answered on the other end with an inside hoop. Word canned another triple to tie it at 40. Norse senior Jordan Garnett slugged right back with a 3 on the other end.
The back-and-forth affair continued for the final 20 minutes. The Vikings would whittle the lead down to one and defending champion Northern Kentucky would find an answer.
But eventually first-year standouts Appleby and Kenic seized control for good.
Appleby sliced into the lane time after time, either scoring himself or kicking out to open teammates. He finished with 24 points, including a 12-of-15 effort at the free-throw line. Appleby also compiled a game-high six assists.
Kenic (17 points) found a groove in the second half, hitting 5-of-6 from the field, including both his 3-point attempts and a pair at the foul line. Carpenter was not surprised by the poise displayed by his young Serbian teammate.
“He’s gonna be a great player in this league,” said Carpenter. “He’s a confident player, so once we saw he had it going, we kept trying to feed the hot hand and he made big shots for us.”
Cleveland State got 15 points and six rebounds from Carpenter. Word chipped in 12, including three makes from long distance.
Northern Kentucky was led by McDonald’s 24 points and 13 rebounds. All-League Second Team player Lavone Holland II finished with 15 points and five assists. Sophomore forward Carson Williams recorded a double-double on 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Despite the first-game knockout, Norse head coach John Brannen was able to take some satisfaction in what his team has already accomplished thus far.
“We won a regular season title and there’s a lot to be said for that,” said Brannen. “And we still have a chance to play in another tournament next week.”
Northern Kentucky’s record drops to 22-9. As the Horizon League regular season champion, the Norse will automatically qualify for the NIT beginning March 13.
With the victory, Cleveland State (11-22) advances to the semifinals of the Little Caesars Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship on Monday at 7:00 p.m. (ESPNU)
They will square off against the winner of Sunday’s quarterfinal between Oakland and IUPUI.
No. 2 Wright State 87, No. 7 Green Bay 72
In Saturday night’s first quarterfinal of the Little Caesars Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship, it was the No. 2 seed Wright State Raiders advancing with an 87-72 victory over the No. 7 seed Green Bay Phoenix.
The Raiders asserted themselves defensively from the opening tip. Green Bay came up empty on its first nine shots and did not score a point for the first seven minutes of that game. Wright State capitalized by jumping out to an 11-0 lead.
The Phoenix responded with an 8-2 run of their own, but the Raiders punched right back with a barrage from 3-point land.
Sophomore point guard Cole Gentry knocked one down. Then junior Mark Hughes drilled a pair, the second off a beautiful dish from Freshman of the Year Loudon Love. All-League First-Teamer Grant Benzinger buried one from well beyond the arc, and Jaylon Hall finished the burst, again on an astute pass out of a double team from Love.
When the dust settled, Wright State had built a 37-21 cushion heading to the break.
Horizon League First Team selection Khalil Small was able to tally 10 points in the half, but no other Green Bay player managed more than three.
Green Bay entered this tournament matchup as the hottest offensive team in the conference, registering point totals of 96, 107 and 93 over the last three games. But Wright State, the Horizon League’s second stingiest defensive team, was able to keep the Phoenix in check. The Raiders kept Green Bay to under 72 points in all three matchups this season.
Phoenix head coach Linc Darner knew how difficult it would be to score against the Raiders.
“When they get back and set their half-court defense, they guard as good as anybody in the league,” said Darner. “That’s probably why they finished 14-4 and second place in the league.”
Wright State’s All-League players were both razor-sharp in the Raiders’ tournament opener. Benzinger (15 points) canned all five of his shots, including four from downtown. His only blemish was one missed free throw, a surprise for the conference leader in that category (89%). Love dominated on the interior with 17 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocks.
As a team, the Raiders shot 27-of-52 from the floor (51.9%) and 8-of-16 from 3 (50%). Six Raiders had double-digit scoring nights.
Love contributed four assists and discussed his improved passing after the game: “At the beginning of the season, I probably would have been throwing these balls in the third row.”
Wright State head coach Scott Nagy joked, “Now it’s only the second row.”
Kam Hankerson, after torching Detroit Mercy for 36 points on Friday night, could not find the hot hand again versus Wright State. He scored five points on 2-of-10 shooting.
Small was the game’s leading scorer with 34 points. He added 11 rebounds and six assists.
Green Bay concludes its season with a 13-20 overall record.
With the win, Wright State (23-9) advances to the Motor City Madness semifinals Monday at 9:30 p.m. They will take on the winner of Sunday’s game between UIC and Milwaukee.