Northern Kentucky Claims 2019 #MotorCityMadness Championship
No. 2 Northern Kentucky 77, No. 1 Wright State 66 | Tuesday's Motor City Madness Three Stars of the Day
DETROIT - In the Motor City Madness men’s championship game on Tuesday night, the No. 2 seed Northern Kentucky Norse secured their second Horizon League title in three years with a 77-66 victory over the top-seeded Wright State Raiders.
After a last-second, pressure-filled victory on Monday night, you could have forgiven John Brannen’s group from Northern Kentucky if they had come in a bit emotionally spent in the tournament final. Turned out there was no such problem at all.
The Norse came out firing on all cylinders.
Wright State scored the game’s first two points and then Northern Kentucky slugged right back with an 8-0 run fueled by a Jalen Tate 3 and five quick points from lefty marksman Tyler Sharpe. Five-straight free throws from Sharpe and Walton gave the Norse an early 13-4 lead.
The normally sure-handed Raiders had a hard time taking care of the ball. Seven minutes in, Scott Nagy’s co-regular season champions were just 2-of-8 from the field with four turnovers.
The Norse got a major boost from an unexpected source, with reserve Zaynah Robinson canning three triples in the opening half. The second long ball gave Northern Kentucky its biggest lead of the game at 21-7.
The Raiders got two treys of their own from their pair of All-League defenders, Mark Hughes and Parker Ernsthausen, temporarily stemming the Norse onslaught.
But Northern Kentucky couldn’t miss. Tate banged home another 3 and the Norse had doubled up the Raiders, 32-16. The Norse dropped in a remarkable seven of their first nine attempts from beyond the arc.
“Just getting off to that rhythm starting the first half was a great feeling,” Tate said. “Just knowing that we could get stops and it obviously translates to offense. Shots were going in.”
Wright State All-Freshman guard Malachi Smith made a clever strip of Dantez Walton and coasted the other way for a layup. It brought NKU’s lead to 40-28.
With the first-half clock winding down, junior guard Cole Gentry launched a 3 from the mid-level concourse of Little Caesars Arena. It splashed home, drawing Wright State to within 44-34, a slight boost of confidence for the defending champs heading to the halftime break.
Tate (12 points) and Robinson (11) led the way for Northern Kentucky at intermission.
Gentry and Love each had eight points for the Raiders.
But the second half proved that this championship night indeed belonged to Motor City Madness MVP Drew McDonald and his fellow band of Norse hoopers.
Dantez Walton rained in a pair of 3-pointers. McDonald did the same. Sharpe knocked in another 3, his 10th of the tournament.
For the game, the Norse shot 12-of-21 (57%) from 3-point land.
Northern Kentucky led by double-digits for the final 19 minutes of the game, its biggest gap of the half coming at 70-50.
All-Horizon League First Team honoree Loudon Love had an off-night from the field, shooting 2-of-13 overall and coming up empty on all six of his second-half attempts.
All-Conference second-teamer Bill Wampler led the Raiders with 16 points. Hughes and Gentry added 15 apiece.
Hughes, a four-year participant at Detroit’s Motor City Madness, relished his postseason experiences.
“It’s always been fun coming here to Detroit,” Hughes said. “The games are always competitive. The Horizon League does a really good job of putting on a good tournament. It’s just been a pleasure to play with these guys. I’m definitely gonna miss it, though.”
League Coach of the Year Scott Nagy was emotional about the sheer will his team displayed throughout the year.
“At one point we were 8-10 and 2-3 in the league, and then we won the league,” Nagy said. “So I love the effort our guys gave us. I told them today honestly just how much I admire them for how hard they have played this year. It’s been an incredible thing for me to watch, to the point as a coach it almost brings me to tears. Because they have just given us everything we’ve asked.”
The Norse registered five players in double-figures. Tate led the way with 17, Walton clocked in a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds, and McDonald posted 13 points and eight boards.
“I think you guys can see just how much fun we have fun playing together and how much we enjoy playing basketball together,” McDonald said
The game’s unsung hero, Zaynah Robinson, finished with 15 points on a scorching 6-of-7 from the floor. He entered Tuesday night’s championship averaging just 1.5 points for the tournament.
“I was not surprised just because I knew he had it in him. He’s a big-game kid in terms of his ability to step up when need be. But he’s been consistent the entire time. And the thing I’ve talked to him about is, ‘Your moment is coming.’ So when he had it going (tonight), we rode it.”
The MVP McDonald was joined on the All-Tournament team by teammates Jalen Tate and Tyler Sharpe, Bill Wampler from Wright State and Jaevin Cumberland from Oakland.
With the loss, Wright State’s record dropped to 21-13.
With the victory, Northern Kentucky (26-8) earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, the second trip in program history (2017).