Panthers top Norse to reach title game - Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

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Kentucky Wesleyan College blew a big first-half lead, then rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to beat Northern Kentucky 81-76 in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament on Saturday in Springfield, Ill.

The Panthers (29-3) meet Bellarmine, an 85-65 winner over Drury in the other semifinal, at 3:30 p.m. today for the conference title.

KWC and Northern (17-13) exchanged leads and momentum shifts several times. The Panthers came out hot and led by 16 at one point in the first half, but the Norse answered in the second with a big run and eventually claimed a double-digit lead

KWC fought back and took the lead for good on Desmond Stephens' 3-pointer with 6:30 to go. Marico Stinson, who was quiet most of the night, came through with two huge buckets -- his only field goals of the game -- inside the final two minutes, then the Panthers hit 8-of-10 free throws in the last 1:11 to seal it.

"Basketball is a game of runs, but I haven't been part of a game like that with so many big swings," KWC coach Todd Lee said. "I thought we could come back, and we did. I just wanted to get it close down the stretch."

Stephens came through late for KWC, finishing with 23 points, including 5-of-6 free throws in the last 21 seconds.

"I told my teammates to give me the ball," Stephens said. "I want the ball at the end of the game."

Added Lee: "We have a group who shoots free throws well. If they get fouled, they'll make their free throws for the most part."

Northern stayed close thanks to a GLVC Tournament-record 23-of-23 performance from the foul line. Dennis Gagai led the Norse with a game-high 25 points. Leading scorer David Palmer finished right on his average with 17 points.

Chris Williams and Kwan Waller added 14 points each for Wesleyan, and Andree' Wilson came off the bench to add 10.

KWC shot 48 percent (26-for-54) for the game, was 7-of-16 from 3-point range and hit 22-of-29 foul shots.

NKU hit for 44 percent (22-for-51) and had 16 turnovers which KWC converted into 22 points. The Panthers only turned the ball over seven times.

Lee said the Norse defense presented several matchup problems.

"They do a good job of causing problems and getting you out of what you normally do," he said. "It took a great team effort by our group.

"I know our guys came in confident and we jumped out to a big lead. (Northern) is a great team. They were playing for their lives to get in the NCAA Tournament."

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