GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - When his all-conference backcourt mate was no longer
around to help him out, senior Bryquis Perine
(Milwaukee, Wis.) decided it was his time to lead his Green Bay team.
Perine
scored 12 of his 18 points in the final 6:28 to rally Green Bay (3-3) from a
nine-point deficit, and capped his night with the game-winning jumper with nine
seconds left as the Phoenix defeated visiting North Dakota State (3-3) 71-69 in
the team's first game at the Resch Center this season.
"It
was a very exciting game, and I think we battled," said head coach Brian Wardle. "Our seniors obviously
made plays, and that is something that seniors do. Players make plays, and my
job down the stretch was just to make sure the ball was in the right guy's
hands at the right time. It was a pretty easy decision. I think any fan out
there would know to get the ball in Bree's hands, run him a ballscreen and let
him make a play. He did that, and he was outstanding down the stretch."
Senior
All-Horizon League performer Rahmon Fletcher (Kansas City, Mo.) was a one-man wrecking crew early, topping his
previous season high with his 24th point with 14:46 to play. He had 14 in the
opening half and 10 of Green Bay's first 12 in the second half. However, foul
trouble held Fletcher to just 14 seconds over the final 10:43 of action, and the
senior fouled out with 3:35 to play.
Fletcher,
who hit 9-of-18 shots from the field and all eight of his free throws, played
27 minutes before his fifth foul set the stage for his longtime teammate.
"It
was him. It was him," Fletcher said of Perine. "When I out the last four
minutes of the game, I told him that he needed to take over and he just shook his
head and he did what he had to do, and we beat a veteran team and this is a big
confidence boost for our team."
The
Phoenix was down 61-52 with 7:31 to play, but a Perine jumper capped a 9-1 run
that made it 62-61 with 4:26 remaining. His jumper gave the hosts the lead
(67-66) with 2:25 on the clock, and after a NDSU layup Perine again put his
team in front (69-68) with a layup at the 1:41 mark.
A
free throw from Freddy Coleman tied the contest with 39 seconds left, giving
Green Bay the ball with a four-second differential between shot clock and game
clock. With the shot clock winding down, Perine came off a ballscreen and
knocked down the game-winner from 13 feet. Coleman's three-pointer at the buzzer
misfired to give the Phoenix the win.
Perine
went 9-from-14 the field, including 7-for-10 in the second half. The senior
made his last six shot attempts from the field. Perine helped Green Bay shoot
16-of-27 in the final 20 minutes for 59.3 percent.
Junior
Steve Baker (St. Paul, Minn.) had
career highs of 14 points and seven rebounds for the Phoenix while also adding
three assists and two blocks. Freshman Alec
Brown (Winona, Minn.) had seven points and three blocks while fellow
freshman Daniel Turner
(McCordsville, Ind.) added five rebounds in his first collegiate start.
Green
Bay continues its four-game homestand and begins Horizon League play on
Thursday, hosting Cleveland State at 7 p.m. The Phoenix will also host
Youngstown State Saturday at 1 p.m.
For
more information on individual game tickets or season tickets or Pick 5
packages, please visit GreenBayPhoenix.com/tickets or call the Green Bay ticket office at
920.465.2625.
GREEN BAY 71, NDSU 69
NDSU (3-3)
BJORKLUND,
Marshall 6-8 2-2 14; CARLSON, Eric 4-14 3-4 11; TVEIDT, Michael 4-8 2-2 10;
LUNDBERG, Drew 4-6 0-0 10; COLEMAN, Freddy 2-4 3-5 7; ZASTROW, Nate 2-4 2-3 7;
WRIGHT, TrayVonn 3-6 0-0 6; BRAUN, Taylor 1-4 0-2 2; FELT, Mike 1-2 0-0 2;
NAGEL, Andy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 12-18 69.
GREEN BAY (3-3)
FLETCHER,
Rahmon 9-18 6-6 24; PERINE, Bryquis 9-14 0-1 18; BAKER, Steve 5-7 2-2 14;
BROWN, Alec 3-7 1-4 7; LESAGE, Greg 1-1 2-4 4; SNYDER, Troy 1-3 0-0 2; EVANS,
Seth 0-5 2-3 2; HEUER, Clayton 0-1 0-0 0; TURNER, Daniel 0-0 0-0 0; SEMENAS,
Derek 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-57 13-20 71.
NDSU........................... 33
36 - 69
Green Bay..................... 33
38 - 71
