Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Nicholls St
Men's Basketball Outlasts Nicholls State, 56-49
12/11/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 11, 1999
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern men's basketball team hit 11-of-12 free throws in the second half, including 9-of-10 in the final 83 seconds, to overcome a furious Nicholls State comeback and win, 56-49, Saturday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Down by 17 points in the second half, the Colonels fought back to take a 49-47 lead with 2:23 to play on two free throws by Lorenzo Wright. At that point in the second half, Nicholls State had gone to the line 19 times to NU?s two.
After a blocked shot, freshman Ben Johnson ? who with sophomore Steve Lepore led the Wildcats with 16 points ? stole the ball from Jeremy Coombs. After a timeout, sophomore Collier Drayton was fouled and calmly hit both ends of the one-and-one to tie the score at 49. Sophomore David Newman was then fouled after a Colonels miss and hit both of his free throws to put NU ahead for good, 51-49.
Northwestern improved to 2-5, while Nicholls State fell to 2-3. The Colonels were led by Arthur Haralson and Chris Worrell with 12 points each.
Freshman center Brody Deren suffered a radial head fracture of his left elbow and will miss the next four to six weeks. The Wildcats return to action Tuesday when they take on Jacksonville at 7 p.m. at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
