01-15-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
NASHVILLE – The Nashville Hornets were on the verge of digging themselves out of a self-inflicted hole in the opening round contest of the NIT.

Getting out played and out hustled in the first half, the Hornets mounted a rally to tie long-time rival Breese Mater Dei in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

At this point head coach Brad Weathers' club appeared ready to close out the come-from-behind win.

But the hosts ran out of steam and Mater Dei took advantage from the foul line late in the game to hold off Nashville, 42-36, to move into the championship round of the 31st annual Nashville Invitational Tournament.

Nashville's rally got the game evened on the scoreboard at 36-all with 3:36 remaining but the Hornets didn't score again and Mater Dei, with four free throws from sophomore Zach Deiters and a basket in the final seconds by Jared Thole, finished the game with six-consecutive points to advance.

“We have folded (given up leads) in the past this year, we have blown some basketball games so this (holding the lead) is a huge step for us,” said Coach Perkes. “We gathered ourselves and hit some free throws and (Ben) Lampe got a basket for us late. We showed some moxie at the end.”

The Knights, the fourth-seed in this talent laden “field of teams” in the tournament, was topped by 6-foot senior guard Adam Etter.

Etter is a lefty who seems to pay rent at the foul line, getting to the basket and drawing contact.

This veteran guard and team leader hit all six of his free throws in the contest and scored 14 of his game-high 18-points in the first half as Mater Dei set the early tone.

Coach Brian Perkes squadron jumped out to an early lead, hitting the offensive glass and forcing Nashville to play from behind for the entire contest.

Etter netted eight points in the opening quarter and his teammates corralled five early offensive rebounds.

The senior guard closed the frame with a drive to the basket just seconds before the horn for a 17-11 lead.

Nashville got the shovel out early in its scoreboard excavation, committing four early turnovers as they spotted their guests an early advantage.

“I thought they out played us in every phase of the game in the first half and you have credit Mater Dei. They played harder and smarter than us in the first half,” said Coach Weathers. “We picked up some silly fouls because we got caught defensively and you can't put yourself in that position.”

A lay in just seconds in to the second quarter by Mater Dei's Jared Kampwerth and another drive by Etter gave the Knights a 21-11 lead with 6:24 left.

Mater Dei was on the verge of a blow out when the final horn sounded in the second quarter.

Coach Perkes saw his club score the last six points in the frame with the 6-foot-4 sophomore Lampe scoring four of those points on a drive in the lane and a pair of free throws.

Etter also added two more charities as Mater Dei went to the locker-room up 29-16.

“We told the kids, I thought we out-hustled them in the first half,” Coach Perkes explained. “We had eight or nine offensive rebounds at halftime and that is very important in a game like this when you are talking about one or two possessions at the end of the game that is going to determine the outcome. So the more shots you get at the basket, the better chance you have.”

Showing a lot more energy and aggressiveness in the third quarter, Nashville got back into the game.

Mainly because the Hornets finally started getting the ball inside to 6-foot-6 freshman Royce Newman while turning up the defensive intensity.

Newman netted eight points in the third quarter, all on nice moves in the paint.

“He (Newman) is really good for a freshman and (Eric) Vandeloo came over and got some blocks on him,” said Coach Perkes. “I thought a lot of the points he got, he earned.”

Nashville held the Knights to just 1-of-8 from the field in the third frame and, when senior guard Scott Brown connected on a 3-point bomb in the closing seconds of the quarter, the Hornets were back in contention at 34-29.

Two free throws by Newman, another long distance bomb by Brown and a tip-in of a missed shot by Newman by 6-foot-6 senior Devin Holle tied the game at 36-all.

But at this point, the Hornets ran out of steam and the Knights advanced to play rival Waterloo Gibault on Friday night.

Statistically speaking, this game wasn't a gem.

Mainly because of the physical defensive play on both ends of the floor.

However Mater Dei did just enough, especially from the foul line, to post the win.

Hitting just three field goal attempts in the second half (3-of-18) the Knights managed to pull out the win by nailing 7-of-11 free throws in the same time frame.

The Knights won the free throw battle, hitting 16-of-23 from the stripe compared to just 5-of-6 for the Hornets.

Lampe followed Etter with nine points on the night in the low-scoring match up.

Kampwerth scored just four points but led all players with nine rebounds.

Nashville was topped by Newman with 16-points while Brown added 11.

Holle scored four points and led Nashville with seven rebounds.

“I was pleased with our effort in the second half. Our goal was to get the score within striking distance at the end of three and we managed to tie it up,” added Coach Weathers. “But the next possession we played like we were still behind. I wish we would have been a little bit more patient. Hopefully we learned a lesson from this and move on. They (Mater Dei) are a nice club and we really struggled to score against them.”

For the game Breese Mater Dei hit 13-of-41 from the floor with six of those misses coming from behind the 3-point line. The Knights didn't make any shots from behind the arc.

Nashville wasn't much better, connecting on just 14-of-40 overall, 3-of-11 from downtown.

The rebounding edge went to the Knights, 26-23.

Nashville saw its record drop to 14-5 while Mater Dei improved to 11-8.

Nashville will make its first appearance in the consolation bracket of its own tournament since 1991 on Thursday night when they will play Wesclin at 6:30 pm.

Gibault and BMD will clash at 6:30 pm on Friday night.

“You're not going to blow Nashville out, we knew that they would come after us in the second half,” said Coach Perkes. “And they did. We hung on just enough right at the end.”

Nashville (36) – Reuter 1 0 0-0 2, Brown 2 2 1-1 11, Thorson 0 1 0-0 3, Jasper 0 0 0-0 0, Anderson 0 0 0-0 0, Beetley 0 0 0-0 0, Holle 2 0 0-0 4, Newman 6 0 4-5 16.
2FG-11, 3FG-3, FT-5-6, PF-18.
Breese Mater Dei (42) – Etter 6 0 6-6 18, Thole 1 0 0-3 2, Deiters 1 0 4-4 8, Vandeloo 1 0 2-4 4, Kampwerth 2 0 0-2 4, Langenhorst 0 0 0-0 0, Hitpas 0 0 0-1 0, Toenies 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-13, 3FG-0, FT-16-23, PF-11.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

WATERLOO GIBAULT 63, WESCLIN 42
After struggling with its first few possessions, the Hawks took flight in advancing into Friday night's semifinals.

Wesclin (42) – Koerkenmeier 0 0 0-0 0, Goff 0 0 0-0 0, Steenbergen 0 1 3-4 6, Haselhorst 1 0 0-0 2, Klein 5 1 4-6 17, Powers 0 0 0-0 0, Eversgerd 2 0 0-0 4, Thoele 0 0 0-0 0, Kunz 3 1 2-3 11, Hilmes 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-12, 3FG-3, FT-9-13, PF-12.
Waterloo Gibault (63) – Z. Rueter 0 0 0-0 0, Jared Rueter 0 0 0-0 0, Jacob Rueter 0 0 0-0 0, Meyer 2 4 0-0 16, Degener 2 1 0-0 7, Row 4 0 0-0 8, B. McFarland 4 0 1-2 9, Toal 2 0 0-0 4, Weiler 5 0 1-3 11, Schreder 2 0 4-5 8. 2FG-21, 3FG-5, FT-6-10, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.