Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Hold Off EA Sports in Exhibition, 64-59
11/9/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Nov. 9, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - Senior Winston Blake and junior Jitim Young scored 19 points apiece, and Northwestern fended off a late rally to defeat the EA Sports Midwest All-Stars, 64-59, in exhibition action Saturday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The Wildcats held a 58-49 lead with five minutes to play in the game, before a flurry of EA steals led to easy buckets and brought them within 58-56 with 59 seconds to play. However, Vedran Vukusic received a nice pass off a cut toward the hoop which resulted in an uncontested layup, and then NU made a defensive stop.
Young hit a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left to make the score 62-56, but following a timeout EA's Leon Jones -- who played at Michigan last year -- drained a three-pointer to cut the lead in half.
EA called another timeout, then fouled Blake on the ensuing inbounds. He hit one of two freebies, and then a wild shot by EA was rebounded by Jason Burke, who iced the game with another foul shot with just two seconds left.
The free throw capped off a nice night for Burke, who had seven points, five rebounds, two assists and three emphatic blocked shots. His senior classmate, Blake, had a team-high seven boards to go with his 19 points. Center Aaron Jennings, the third member of NU's senior triumvirate, sat out the game with an injury.
T.J. Parker, a freshman point guard, started the contest and ended up going 33 minutes. He had six points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Northwestern was ice cold to start the game, and as a result EA jumped out to an 11-2 lead after five minutes. The Wildcats steadied themselves, though, and after falling behind by 11 (20-9) with nine minutes left in the half they made their move. Three minutes later, a 10-0 run had brought them within 20-19.
EA was able to hold the lead until just 2:44 was left in the half, when a fast-break layup by Young put NU up 29-27. The 'Cats ended up going into the locker room with a 32-27 lead.
Northwestern built on that lead early in the second half, scoring nine of the first 13 points to take a 41-31 lead. EA bounced back to within 41-40, before another run by NU pushed the lead back up to eight (50-42). That held up until EA's final run.
Three EA Sports players hit double figures, led by Jones' 16 points. Mike Brownlee had 11 points, while former Illinois player Lucas Johnson had 10.
Northwestern will be back in action Wednesday night, hosting the Northwest Sports All-Stars in another exhibition at 7 p.m. in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
