Sam Vinson leads NKU over Eastern Michigan, 74-73

#LINKAthlete, Sam Vinson, an NKU freshman led the way for the Norse.

The Northern Kentucky men’s basketball team rallied to overcome Eastern Michigan in a nail biter at BB&T arena, 74-73. With the win, NKU improves to 2-1 on the year, while EMU slides to 1-2. 

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STAT LEADERS

·         Sam Vinson led the Norse in the scoring column, totaling 17 points. He went 4-of-5 (80 percent) on threes. 

·         Adrian Nelson notched a double-figure game and totaled 16 points. He went 8-of-9 (89 percent) from the field and added seven rebounds. 

·         Chris Brandon went contributed 11 points. He also had five rebounds, one steal and one block. 

·         Bryson Langdon led NKU in the assist column with a total of four. He had five rebounds and went 3-of-4 (75 percent) from the field goal. 

TURNING POINT 

·         With 13:31 left in the second half, the Norse were determined to close up the scoring gap after being down for quite some time. Vinson secured a free throw which set off a chain reaction of scoring that led to the Norse tying up the game, 42-42. From that point forward, it was a tightly contested game and set it up for Langdon’s game-winner with just seconds remaining. 

FIRST HALF SUMMARY  

·         David Böhm buried a 3-pointer only two minutes into the game, the Norse had their first lead of the night, 5-2. 

·         With a crowd roaring slam dunk, Nelson recorded his first basket of the night. Less than a minute later, Nelson followed it up with a layup that was assisted by Marques Warrick. 

·         Vinson made a huge splash from beyond-the-arc and was assisted by Trevon Faulkner. 

·         With 9:00 left to go in the half, Warrick hit a pair of free throws to put the Norse back in the lead by one point, 17-16. 

·         EMU used a 13-1 run to grab control of the half. 

·         Off the fast break, Nelson pulled down the offensive rebound and secured a putback to help stop the bleeding. 

·         Vinson then came in clutch with the assist to Nelson, giving him his second alley-oop of the night, but Northern Kentucky trailed 35-24 at the break. 

·         NKU shot just 30 percent (9-of-30) from the field, while EMU made 52 percent (15-of-29). 

SECOND HALF SUMMARY  

·         In the first 15 seconds of the half, Trevon Faulkner’s jumper found the bottom of the net.  

·         Coming in hot at the 16:25 minute mark, Hubertas Pivorius nailed a three-pointer. The Norse were still down but cut into the lead, 39-33. 

·         Vinson sunk his first free throw at the 13:31 mark and on his second attempt, Brandon pulled down the offensive rebound. Brandon was fouled on the attempted putback and converted both free-throws, which put the Norse within three. 

·         Northern Kentucky underwent a 6-0 scoring run, capped by Vinson’s free throw to tie up the game at 42. 

·         While the teams toggled lead changes, a layup by Brandon put the Norse back on top, 63-62. 

·         Remaining on fire, Vinson left a mark from behind-the-arc with 1:59 left in the game and 47 second later he secured a lay-in to put NKU ahead, 69-68. 

·         The lead changes continued with EMU scoring only to see Pivorius respond with a three and push the Norse back in front, 72-71. 

·         With 13 ticks on the clock, the Eagles scored, but this time Langdon answered. He drove the length of the floor and converted a contested layup with just seven seconds left. 

·         Langdon then closed the game with a rebound on Eastern Michigan’s final attempt. 

GAME NOTES  

·         The Norse outscored the Eagles 50-38 in the second half. They went 6-of-10 (60 percent) from behind-the-arc and 18-of-31 (58 percent) from the field in the last 20 minutes of play.  

·         Northern Kentucky erased an 11-point second-half deficit. The last time NKU did that was on Jan. 2, 2021, when it came from 11 down with 16 minutes to play, winning 70-68. 

·         NKU had 36 points located in the paint and 24 off of second chance opportunities.  

·         At the three-point line, NKU 8-for-17 (47 percent) which is its highest for the season.  

·         Northern Kentucky’s bench was phenomenal for the night totaling 26 points. 

UP NEXT  

The Norse will compete in their fourth regular-season home game at BB&T Arena on Monday, Nov. 22, against Western Illinois. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN+ and heard on The Project.