Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Fordham
Northwestern Edges Fordham, 62-60
12/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec 22, 2002
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EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - T.J. Parker notched career highs with 23 points and seven rebounds, and sophomore Davor Duvancic added 12 as Northwestern held back a late rally to defeat Fordham 62-60 Sunday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The Wildcats (6-3) looked like they had this game in control, leading by 11 points with less than four minutes to play. But Fordham chopped away at the lead and finally got within two at 59-57 on a Michael Haynes dunk with 17.6 seconds left.
Northwestern successfully inbounded, and the Rams put Winston Blake on the foul line for two shots. He made both, pushing the lead back up to four points and making it a two-possession game.
John Blackgrove hit a 3-pointer -- giving him 13 points for the game -- to make it 61-60 with three seconds left. Blake was again fouled on the inbounds with 00.8 on the clock; he hit the first free throw for his 11th point of the game, then missed the second intentionally and Fordham failed to get off a final shot.
Northwestern scored the game's first six points and never looked back, although Fordham threatened throughout the contest. In the first half, the Wildcats led by as much as nine and went into the locker toom with a 35-28 advantage.
Fordham (1-7) cut that lead to two by scoring 10 of the first 15 points in the second stanza, but NU reeled off an 11-1 run to push the lead back up to 12 (51-39) with 7:42 to play. The lead hovered around double digits until the Rams made their final push.
Duvancic had a career game, as he played 22 minutes in place of Aaron Jennings who was hampered by shin splints. Duvancic also had six rebounds on the day.
Haynes led Fordham with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Blackgrove ended with 13 points and Mark Jarrell-Wright had 11.
Northwestern is off until next Monday, taking eight days off around the Christmas holiday. Buffalo comes to town for the last game of 2002, at 7 p.m. in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
