by Rachael Quigley
staff associate

It was the most exciting home game of the season as Anthony Love added two free throws with 0:10 left in the game to stamp an exclamation point on the Rivermen's upset victory over the 12th-ranked team in the nation, Northern Kentucky, 65-57.

The first half of play was dominated by UM-St. Louis' blanket defense, which gave up only 15 points and allowed a mere 20 percent shooting by Northern Kentucky.

UM-St. Louis' offense capitalized on Northern Kentucky's inability to score as the Rivermen posted a 55 percent field goal average for the first half.

UM-St. Louis never trailed the third-ranked team in the Great Lakes Valley Conference during the entire game and kept up their intensity throughout.

It all began as the Rivermen came out and took an early lead at 15:00, 14-9. At 7:00, the Rivermen extended their enormous first-half lead to 30-13 with consistent field goal shooting and a smothering defensive effort.

UM-St. Louis' defense allowed no other points to be scored in the half until 1:15 when Northern Kentucky added two free throws to make the score 33-15, which is where the score remained as the teams headed to the locker room.

"We played well in the first half," Mark Bernsen, Rivermen head coach, said. "We played great defense and kept them [Northern Kentucky] from getting off shots."

Northern Kentucky adjusted well at halftime and came out firing, opening up its perimeter game to shoot three 3-pointers in a row, making the score 44-33.

Before the game, Bernsen spoke about the concerns regarding Northern Kentucky's shooting game.

"They are a great, great shooting club," Bernsen said. "They've had three of their last four games where they've shot 17 to 24 from three. You really have to handle their movement and get out on their shooters."

UM-St. Louis answered Northern Kentucky with a few shots of its own and came away 50-39 with 7:00 left in the game.

GLVC Basketball Standings
Team	GLVC Record	Overall Record
1) Kentucky Wesleyan	13-1	19-1
2) Southern Indiana	12-2	17-3
3) Northern Kentucky	11-3	19-4
4) Lewis	10-5	16-5
5) Indianapolis	9-5	13-7
6) UM-St. Louis	7-7	12-8
7) IUPU-Ft. Wayne	6-8	9-11
8) Bellarmine	5-9	10-10
9) SIU-Edwardsville	5-9	9-11
10) Quincy	4-10	7-13
11) St. JosephÕs	2-12	6-14
12) Wisconsin-Parkside	1-14	5-16

Northern Kentucky then began to make a run as it slowly climbed its way back into the game, closing the gap to 50-48 at 3:47. Riverman Greg Ross answered with a field goal to make the score 52-48 heading into the last 2:00 of the game.

Northern Kentucky's shooters took aim and kept fighting, eventually putting the score at 56-54 with only 1:50 left in the game. UM-St. Louis' Kechan Johnson fired back, pulling up for a three-point basket at 1:20 to make it 59-54.

Northern Kentucky continued to push UM-St. Louis as Craig Sanders added a 3-pointer of his own at 1:13 to bring the score closer once again, 59-57.

Kechan Johnson again came up big for the Rivermen, connecting on a field goal with 0:40 left to extend the lead to 61-57.

Kechan's basket ignited the Rivermen's defense as they made a crucial steal with 0:20 left, allowing Brian Markus to execute an enormous dunk that brought the UM-St. Louis bench to its feet.

UM-St. Louis then stole the ball again, forcing Northern Kentucky to foul, which set up Anthony Love's game-capping free throws.

"I was really proud of our guys," Bernsen said, "and they hung in there. We knew that Northern Kentucky would make a run at us. I was just pleased that we were able to close out the game. Northern Kentucky made some baskets and then we made some big baskets with [Anthony] Love and [Kechan] Johnson. We just found a way to win."

Previously, UM-St. Louis traveled to Owensboro, Ky. to take on Kentucky-Wesleyan, who are first in the GLVC and third in the nation. It was a tough game for the Rivermen, who lost 65-88.

First half shooting for UM-St. Louis was only 33 percent in field goal range and 38 percent from 3-point land, while Kentucky-Wesleyan had 40 percent field goal shooting and 60 percent from 3-point range.

"They came out pretty quick," Bernsen said. "They got a good lead on us early, but we came back and had a chance to go in at halftime down by just six. We gave up a three and a tip in at the buzzer and six went to 11 real quick.

The second half was a better shooting half for UM-St. Louis with 48 percent field goal shooting, but Kentucky-Wesleyan also upped its offensive presence with 59 percent field goal shooting.

"Kentucky-Wesleyan did a good job at taking away our inside game," Bernsen said. "They've got a big, strong front line and that opened up some things for them on the perimeter. It was a difficult situation, and we just didn't respond well in the second half."

Anthony Love put up big numbers in the losing effort, posting a game high 22 points.

The Rivermen are now 12-8 overall and 7-7 in the GLVC.

The Rivermen will travel to Illinois to face Quincy.

Quincy is 7-13 overall and ranked in the GLVC with a record of 4-10.

The Rivermen's next home game will be a crucial matchup with Lewis.

Lewis is 16-5 overall and ranked 4th in the GLVC with a record of 10-5.

UM-St. Louis is 12-8 overall and ranked sixth in the GLVC with a record of 7-7.