NCAA Tournament stunner! NKU defeats Findlay, ends nation’s longest home win streak at 59

(This story was originally published on March 11, 2007)

Special to The Post

FINDLAY, Ohio — Prior to Sunday night’s NCAA Division II Tournament game against Northern Kentucky University, a group of Findlay students unveiled a sign that asked the following question of Norse standout guard and Bowling Green State transfer Steven Wright:

“Hey, Steven, why did you leave Bowling Green?”

The answer? How else could Wright have engineered an end to Findlay’s 59-game home winning streak — the nation’s longest at any level — and eliminate the top-seeded Oilers from the Great Lakes Region Tournament if he had remained at Bowling Green.

That’s exactly what Wright and his Norse teammates did Sunday night with a 60-56 victory over No. 3 Findlay in Croy Gymnasium. NKU (24-8) ignored a loud, raucous Findlay crowd of nearly 2,000, clamped down defensively late in the second half and earned a spot in the regional championship game against No. 7 Grand Valley State on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

How does it feel to stop the nation’s longest home winning streak in front of a crowd like that? Just a few miles from where your college career began in Bowling Green, Ohio?

“The crowd didn’t bother me, and I just fed off of it,” said Wright, who scored 18 points. “Findlay has a great atmosphere and, as a basketball player, you want to play in front of a big crowd. When I played in the (Mid-American Conference) there really weren’t a lot of fans most of the time, and this was one of the loudest crowds I’ve ever played against.”

And play he did. NKU trailed 32-29 at halftime despite shooting 54.5 percent from the field, but the Norse started quickly to begin the second half. Billy Finnell began the rally with a basket, and Vincent Humphrey followed with a 3-pointer to give NKU a 34-32 lead.

Wright took over minutes later, scoring seven consecutive points to give NKU a 43-36 advantage. Wright started his personal assault with a long-range 3-pointer and capped it with a driving layup that was assisted by Finnell.

Findlay then demonstrated why it had not lost to a non-conference opponent at home since 1997. The Oilers used an 11-0 run to take a 47-43 lead on Frank Phillips’ basket with 10:41 remaining, and the crowd suddenly became a factor.

Humphrey, a transfer from Valparaiso in his second season at NKU, said the noise decibels brought back memories of another school with a lot of orange in its colors.

“I remember playing at Champaign against Illinois, and it was a sea of orange, just like here,” he said. “It gets you excited, and this was fun. It’s similar to a high school game because everyone is right behind the bench yelling, but it was a great atmosphere and you like to play in front of a lot of people.”

A 3-pointer by Dorian Bass gave Findlay a 54-50 lead with just 3:56 left on the clock, and it appeared NKU was about to see its season end. The Norse, however, gathered themselves, became aggressive on defense and let Wright show everyone why he is the Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year.

The 6-foot-3 leaper brought his team within a point (56-55) by burying a long 3-pointer with 2:33 remaining. David McFarland then stole the ball from Phillips in the lane and found Wright sprinting to the other end of the court.

Wright soared in for a vicious two-handed dunk to give NKU a 57-56 lead with 1:59 remaining, and the crowd suddenly became eerily silent.

“We did not finish the Southern Indiana game last week. They made plays at the end, and we coughed up a championship,” NKU head coach Dave Bezold said. “Our guys knew that, and we have great leaders on this team. I don’t even need to be in huddle when you have a Steve Wright letting guys know what to do and where they should be.”

About the only negative for Wright were free throws during the final minute. He missed two free throws with NKU holding the 57-56 lead but came up with a big steal off a clean strip with 38 seconds to play.

Findlay countered with a steal off its pressure defense, but Marcus Parker’s shot attempt was off-target and rebounded by Wright with 9.3 seconds left. Wright missed the first free throw, and then hit the second to extend NKU’s advantage to 58-56.

Bass attempted to win the game with a 3-pointer out front, but the shot missed and was rebounded by Humphrey. The junior forward was fouled with 0.3 seconds left, and he made both free throws to seal the win and end Findlay’s dominance in Croy Gymnasium.

Bezold praised the play of Humphrey, who came up huge defensively in the second half.

“Anthony Teague kept us in the game in the first half, but we went to Vince in the second half and he was the steady guy making things happen defensively,” Bezold said. “Vince positions himself better than anyone else on the team, and he made some outstanding plays that do not show up on a stat sheet. And they came against some really good players, too.”

Teague and Finnell each finished with 11 points for NKU, which shot 56.1 percent from the field. The Norse limited Findlay to 37.9 percent from the field in the second half and forced the Oilers’ into 2-for-9 shooting from 3-point range during the final 20 minutes.

They also forced the Findlay students to re-think fodder for future opponent signs.

“We knew we could play a game like this against Findlay, and we learned a lot from the first time we played them this season,” Wright said, noting NKU’s 59-53 loss to the Oilers in December on the same exact court. “We were very focused at the shoot-around, and our coaching staff had us prepared for this game.”

Added Bezold: “Findlay is a great team. They are not ranked third in the nation for nothing. They are so good and consistent, and they have five guys who can beat you.

“We just wanted to have an opportunity to win at the end, and have some bounces go our way. They did, and we survived a great battle against a tremendous team.”