Mike Kelsey's 35 points were too much as Southern Illinois University Edwardsville was knocked off by Northern Kentucky 73-62 in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament.
         The No. 2-seeded Cougars shot just 31 percent (17-54) in the contest. The No. 6-seeded Norse netted 50 percent (21-42) of their shots, including 52 percent (11-21) from behind the three-point arc.
         SIUE falls to 23-8 overall, still looking for a bid in the NCAA Division II tournament next week as the field will be announced on Sunday night.
         Tim Bauersachs led all Cougars with 18 points, adding nine rebounds and going 8 of 11 from the free throw line.
         Northern Kentucky, 14-14 on the season, started the game on a 7-0 run as the Cougars were unable to score a field goal for the first 5:06 of the contest. SIUE cut the lead to 9-8 with 13:26 to go, but an 18-4 run by the Norse over a 7:10 and they would take a 34-21 lead into halftime.
         The Cougars traded baskets with the Norse during the second half with the lead falling to 43-31 with 14:20 to go. Northern Kentucky gained its largest lead at 60-41 with 6:58 left in the game.
         SIUE trimmed the lead to 62-53 with 3:17 left, but that was as close as the Cougars would come.
         J.B. Jones and Dan Heimos each notched 12 points while Anthony Jones came off the bench to chip in 10.
         Kelsey finished 10 of 15 shooting and 7 of 11 from behind the three-point line. Kevin Reinhart added 16 points for the Norse.
         The Cougars shot just 25 percent (4-16) from three-point land but went 24-30 (80 percent) from the free throw line in the contest.
         The NCAA Tournament men's basketball selection show can be seen on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. on DirectTV channel 644 or Dish Network channel 410.
                  -siue cougars-