KWC snaps long skid vs. Norse - Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

Kentucky Wesleyan College's long nightmare against Northern Kentucky is finally over.

Reserve guard Travis Owsley engineered a 21-7 second-half run to break open a tight game as the No. 8 Panthers pulled away late to defeat the Norse 80-60 on Saturday before a Senior Day crowd of 2,500 at the Sportscenter.

The victory snapped a 12-game losing streak to NKU, and clinched the Great Lakes Valley Conference East division for Wesleyan.

"It feels really good to beat them," said Wesleyan coach Todd Lee, who entered the contest 0-10 against the Norse. "It's a great win against a very good basketball team."

Wesleyan (25-3, 14-2 GLVC) led by just 42-40 when senior point guard Desmond Stephens was assessed his fourth foul with 13:08 remaining. By the time Stephens returned to the court with 41/2 minutes to go, the Panthers led 63-47 and were well on their way to victory.

"I was really proud of the way Travis came in and ran the team at a critical point in the game," Lee said. "I could have put Des back in the game earlier, but we kept extending the lead with T.O. in there so I just stayed with what we had on the floor.

"I'm really happy for Travis, because he stepped up and got the job done for us when we had to have him."

The Norse (13-12, 6-10) pulled within 67-57 on a deep 3-pointer by Tony Rack at 2:15, but got no closer down stretch. The Panthers drained 9-of-10 free throws in the final two minutes, and also got a thunderous tomahawk slam dunk from Willie Richardson to punctuate a long-awaited triumph.

"Once again, I thought we got great play off the bench," Lee said. "In addition to Travis, I thought Willie and Andree' Wilson played very, very well."

KWC was in slight control for most of the first half, before Northern Kentucky rallied in the final three minutes.

A 3-pointer by Marico Stinson pushed the Panthers in front 30-25, but the Norse closed the half with seven straight points, including a falling-down 3-pointer by Jon Van Hoose at the buzzer -- providing NKU a 32-30 lead at intermission.

"I was really disappointed by the way we closed out the half," Lee said. "In the last three minutes, Northern dominated us on the boards, and those extra chances led to seven straight points for them.

"At halftime, we put an emphasis on getting to the glass in the second half."

KWC -- which dropped a 67-62 decision at Northern Kentucky on Jan. 21 -- received Lee's message loud and clear, outrebounding the Norse 18-9 over the final 20 minutes.

Stephens, limited to 27 minutes due to foul problems, paced KWC with 21 points, making 11-of-12 free throws. He also dished a game-best six assists and made two steals.

Richardson, 7-of-10 from the floor, finished with a career-high 19 points, adding four rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal. Chris Williams added 10 points and seven rebounds, and a strong second half propelled Wilson to 10 points and six rebounds. Kwan Waller added four assists.

Northern was paced by 6-foot-9, 250-pound center David Palmer, who scored 15 points and had a game-best four blocks. Ethan Faulkner scored 11 points and Chris Knight 10.

Northern coach Dave Bezold suffered his first career loss to KWC in 13 games.

Kentucky Wesleyan returns to action on Monday when it travels to Evansville for a battle with longtime rival Southern Indiana at PAC Arena. The unbeaten Eagles are ranked No. 2.

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