Louisville 71 Northwest 63

[Yappi]

By starkravingdad

In a typically tough NBC contest, the Louisville Leopards dealt the Northwest Indians their first conference loss in a Friday night matchup.

The two teams started the game slowly, cautious on offense in a way that two fighters start a match, feeling out one another, searching for openings. The result was a 12-12 tie at the end of a quarter.

Louisville's offense heated up quickly. Brandon Mathie was red-hot for the next two quarters, especialy from 3 point range and Matt Schooley played a physical inside game as the Leps built a six-point halftime cushion.

NW came charging back in the 3rd, opening the scoring with a Jim Shiplett put back and a Tyler Krzynowek drive. Mathie answered with a 3, but Paul Hensley followed with a tradional "and one" 3 point play. Schooley was whistled to the bench with his 3rd foul and the Indians seems to gain momentum. A Mathie slash and Mike Brown free throws answered the surge, and soon the lead was back to 7. After a NW turnover, Louisville attempted to hold the ball for one shot, but Nate Millard knifed in and stole a pass and laid it in at the buzzer to make it 54-49 entering the last quarter.

The action was marred by numerous fouls in the fourth. NW lost three players to fouls in the 4th and Louisville one. The NW press rattled Louisville into several turnovers and forced them to use all their time outs. A pair of free throws by Shiplett and a Krzynowek 3 sliced the lead to 3 with 1:29 remaining, but NW could pull no closer as the fouls mounted up and Louisville cashed in at the line.

Foul shooting proved to be the difference, as NW had one more basket than the Leps (22-21), but Louisville scored 25 from the line to Nw's 17. NW was whistled for 30 fouls. Mathie led the Leps with 21, Brown added 19 and Schooley added 12 points and 10 boards. Krzynowek paced NW with 20, while Shiplett added 15 and 7 boards.