HAMMOND, Ind. — Kai Steinman buried a 3-pointer with four seconds remaining to complete a massive second-half comeback by the Purdue Northwest men's basketball team over Indiana Northwest on Thursday night. PNW stormed back to win 87-84 after trailing by as much as 17 points late in the game.
PNW improved to 2-2 overall following its second straight home win. It was the opener at the Hammond Campus Fitness & Recreation Center after the Pride hosted East-West University on the Westville Campus two nights ago.
HEAD COACH BOOMER ROBERTS:
"First, I think it's important all the schools in the Region try to play each other, because it's great for the fans and the community. Coach Jav had his guys ready, and they outplayed us for the majority of the game. But our guys dug deep and found a way. We have a lot of guys being asked to do more than they're used to with multiple other guys out, and they're continuing to get better and more confident. Kai obviously hit a huge shot, but he played really well in the second half to help get it to that point. Ant, Sangolay, and Z each made some huge plays, and we were able to pull it off late.
We're a work in progress, but our guys believe in each other and they push each other, and it was great to see our bench rock with the guys on the floor at the end of the game. This family continues to evolve and get stronger, which will pay off in the long run."
STAT LEADERS
- Anthony Irvin led the Pride with a new career-high of 21 points with four 3-pointers and five assists
- Steinman also hit four threes to post a new career-high of 17 points with four boards, four steals and two assists
- Sangolay Njie notched his second double-double with 14 points and 11 boards including three on the offensive glass
- Caleb Zurliene finished with 13 points, five boards and three assists
- Jyrus Freels grabbed six boards to go along with eight boards
How it happened: PNW trailed for majority of the night after IUN raced out to a 27-10 lead midway through the first half. The Pride shot 29% in the opening stanza and went 0 for 12 from three-point range in the first half, but were able to slice the deficit to single digits multiple times before going down 42-30 at the break.
Njie's layup with under a minute before halftime made the score 39-30 before IUN knocked down a three just before the halftime buzzer.
It turned out to be a tale of two halves from beyond the arc, though, as the Pride found their shooting stroke by drilling 11 threes in the second period.
A dunk by Zurliene early in the second half cut the deficit to eight, but the Redhawks held steady and built another 17-point lead, 68-51, with 10 minutes left in the game.
Then, the Pride flipped on the lights.
Irvin drained back-to-back treys to get the crowd back into it. Then, Steinman recorded a pair of steals as the Pride buckled down and got stops, and those led to a fast-break layup from
Logan Phillips and a three from Steinman to trim the deficit back down to eight. The run continued as back-to-back threes from
Jonte Coleman made it a two-point game with six minutes remaining.
IUN temporarily stopped the bleeding, but a three from Zurliene gave PNW its first lead since the 18:20 mark in the first half.
The two teams would exchange blows and traded baskets down the stretch. Freels made a clutch play after finishing through contact on a hook shot to put the Pride up three with just over a minute left, 83-79.
That proved to be a huge shot as IUN's Jared Johnson drained a deep three with 10 seconds remaining to even the score. Then, PNW had the final look in the tightly-contested matchup as Steinman's game-winner, a step-back fade from the right corner, found the bottom of the net on PNW's final possession.
PNW shot 53% overall in the second half including a 65% mark from three-point range on 11-of-17 shooting. The Pride used the deep ball to overcome a tough night at the free-throw line (20-32). IUN held the edge on the glass 47-40, but PNW was able to limit turnovers with only 11 total. The Redhawks shot 47% overall from the field.
It was the first meeting ever between PNW and IUN in men's basketball. IU Northwest most recently played the former Purdue Calumet NAIA program in the 2014-15 season and the Purdue North Central NAIA program in the 2010-11 campaign.
UP NEXT
PNW travels to Quincy University for a 6 p.m. CST non-conference matchup on Saturday. The Pride return home to the Fitness & Recreation Center next Wednesday to host Union University (TN) at 2 p.m. CST.
FOLLOW THE PRIDE
For all the latest information on Purdue Northwest men's basketball, please visit PNWathletics.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Pride (@pnwathletics & @PNWBasketball) on Twitter. You can also find the Pride on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
