Southern Indiana held on in the final seconds against Northern Kentucky to secure a win at home on senior night and a number two seed in the conference tournament.
Mohamed Ntumba and Isaac McClure combined for 36 points to lead the eagles at the physical activities center. Mohammed also had five blocks and one assists. McClure channeled his raw emotion that he often plays with and had 17 points, eight rebounds and one block.
“I haven’t always been good at channeling my emotion,” said McClure, “It can bring you down but you have to be bigger than it and use it.”
At 3:51 Junior Brandon Hogg made an important 3 pointer. “That was the biggest shot of his career,” said Coach Rodney Watson, “the upper classmen giving him the ball in such a big time shot shows they trust the underclassmen.”
With under a minute to go Ntumba made two big free throws to give Southern Indiana a 61-60 lead. Senior Kevin Gant sealed the deal by showing poise and driving to the basket with eight seconds on the clock into heavy defensive traffic.
“That was a big shot by Kevin,” said Watson, “he showed poise in a high pressure situation, a testament to the great player he really is.”
Senior night combined with a must win situation created a lot of tension.
“It was a big night for us, very emotional and we knew a lot was at stake,” said Gant
Coach Watson echoed similar comments, “These guys showed great poise tonight in a situation that was high pressured.”
The game was close and down the stretch Southern Indiana had to scrap and fight to hold on, “It didn’t go exactly as we drew it,” said Senior C.J Trotter, “we were disciplined down the stretch.”