The Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team knew they had to win one of their final two road games to be playing at Truist Arena for their first game of the postseason and earning an important first round bye.
They were able to accomplish that on Thursday at Detroit Mercy with a 67-64 victory over the Titans.
The Norse earned the win by jumping out to a fast start, leading 15-2 eight minutes into the game. They led by as much as 16 in the first half, taking a 37-23 lead into the break.
The Titans opened the second half on a 24-9 run to take a 47-46 lead on a Arashma Parks layup with 12:03 to play.
The two exchanged leads six times from there, Sam Vinson’s 3-pointer with 1:44 left giving the Norse the lead for good at 65-62. Gerald Liddell got the Titans within one at 65-64 with 1:16 to play, the Norse getting three defensive stops in the final minute, and after Marques Warrick and Chris Brandon hit 1-of-2 free throw attempts, Gerald Liddell’s 3-point try at the buzzer to tie the game was unsuccessful.
The win pushes NKU to 18-12 and 13-6 in the Horizon, in a tie for third with Milwaukee. The Panthers hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, defeating the Norse twice this season. Things can get really foggy on the final day of the regular season for the Horizon on Saturday. The two trail Cleveland State and Youngstown State by a game for first place. The Vikings and Panthers play each other on Saturday while the Penguins play at IUPUI. NKU plays at Oakland.
Regardless of how things play out, NKU will be playing at home on Thursday in the Horizon League conference tournament quarterfinals with an opponent still to be determined. If they win that, they’ll head to the semifinals in Indianapolis on March 6 for the semifinals with the championship played on March 7.
Marques Warrick led the Norse with 20 points in hitting 7-of-13 shots from the field. Trevon Faulkner added 13 off the bench while Sam Vinson had 11 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Chris Brandon added eight points and 12 rebounds.
The Titans outrebounded the Norse 40-26, Antoine Davis leading the Titans with 27 points, as the Norse held him to 6-of-19 shooting from the field. A.J. Oliver added 16 points. Davis is the second all-time leading scorer in NCAA history, trailing Pistol Pete Maravich by 97 points. The Titans are guaranteed at least two more games as Davis is in his final year of eligibility. Detroit sits at 13-17 overall and tied for seventh in the Horizon with Wright State at 9-10 in the conference.
