Tonight in the Bank of Kentucky Center the Northern Kentucky Norse battled the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. The Norse came into this game 10-13 overall and 4-4 in the conference. The Eagles came into this game 17-7 overall and 7-1 in the conference. In the previous meeting at Florida Gulf Coast, the Eagles knocked off the Norse 74-64.
During the first half this game was a slight track meet as both the Eagles and Norse made exciting play after play to keep the game interesting. The Eagles had a commanding lead (25-13) with 9:33 left in the first half and the Norse made a 24-10 run to close the half to take a two point lead 37-35.
During the first half the Norse had a group effort as on the stat sheet Tayler Persons, Tyler White, Jordan Jackson and Jalen Billups all were key contributors. Persons had 10 points, White had 8 points and 3 assists including a big 3 to give the Norse the lead heading into halftime, Jackson had 9 points including a huge and one play late in the half, Billups did what he normally does be effective on both sides of the floor as he had 6 points and 7 rebounds.
During the first half for the Eagles it was the Brett Comer and Jamail Jones show as they both made play after play to keep the Eagles in the lead or within striking distance. Comer had 11 points and 3 assists. Jones had 12 points and made both of his shots from the arc.
In the second half both teams tightened up on defense. The Norse started off the half strong, but a few mishaps here and there ended up costing them in the end. Jamail Jones kept hitting every big shot the Eagles needed as he ended the game with 25 points on 10/11 shooting from the field, he also had 6 rebounds.
Tayler Persons did a great job trying to keep the Norse afloat, but a missed one and one and a wild pull up jumper came back to bite them in the backside. Overall Persons had a great game as he lead the Norse with 19 points.
The Norse loss 65-59 to the Eagles. The Eagles are still atop of the Atlantic Sun with an 8-1 record and the Norse are hovering at the 5th slot at 4-5.
Notes:
Tayler Persons on his aggression during the game, “Just trying to find away to win, my teammates and coaches believe in me. I just play as hard as I can every time that I play and just take the shots that I get and the lanes that I get.”
Coach Bezold on letting one slip away, “We having been able to be a mature team, what I mean by that is consistently play fundamentally sound against really good teams and that’s what got us in the second half.”
Photo Credit: C. Austin Cox
