The Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team (6-5) proved it has the guys ready to step forward when needed in their 64-61 victory over Eastern Kentucky (5-6) on Wednesday at Truist Arena.
For the majority of the season so far, it’s been Marques Warrick, Xavier Rhodes, Sam Vinson and Trevon Faulkner carrying the load in scoring production. While Rhodes led with a team-high 19 points, it was the Norse’s depth helping them get over .500. Eight different players entered the scoring column in the victory, the bench pouring in 19 points led by A’lahn Sumler’s 12 points.
“That’s an every day thing in practice – working on filling the opposite (corners), being there when someone drives,” Sumler said. “It really was about coming in and doing what I’m supposed to do.”
Rhodes made things happen attacking the rim and made 7-of-9 shots, including three three-pointers.
“We focus on defense and that carries over to our offense,” Rhodes said. “It began to flow. Credit to my teammates. They were finding me on the opposite side of the wings. That’s putting in the work before practice, after practice and it carried over.”
The other three leading scorers in Warrick, Vinson and Faulkner struggled from the field, going a combined 1-for-21, but found other ways to help the Norse win. Vinson made all four free throw attempts and grabbed 10 rebounds to go with four assists and four steals. Warrick made 7-of-8 free throws on his way to nine points and Faulkner recorded two steals, honored before the game for playing the most games and having the most starts in program history.
The last four home games have been decided by a total of 19 points, all four of them NKU victories as the Norse improved to 6-1 at home.
“If you are paying to come to our games, you are getting your money’s worth,” Horn said. “There’s no question about that. It is probably more exciting for the fans than it is for the coaching staff. It’s a positive that we can win a game like that against a team that plays so hard. They’re committed to their style. They play so hard. They make it difficult for you to do what you want to do. It’s a 40-minute war that way.”
The Norse bench outscored the Colonels bench, 19-14. The fifth Norse starter in junior guard Trey Robinson added nine points.
Northern Kentucky won the rebounding battle, 39-34 and recorded 13 assists to 11 for the Colonels. Fifth-year forward Chris Brandon followed Vinson with eight rebounds.
The Colonels had 10 different players score. Junior wing Devontae Blanton led the way with 23 making three three-pointers. Blanton hit two of them in the game’s final six minutes to tie the game. That forced Northern Kentucky to throw two guys at him the rest of the game trying to make him pass the ball to teammates.
“They were isolating with the elbow and sometimes freshmen don’t follow the scouting report and let him drive with his strong hand,” Horn said. “But that only happened once then late, we definitely wanted to run at him – not an all-out double just not let him be comfortable where he could drive the ball one-on-one.”
Northern Kentucky started the game slow down 5-0. But the Norse used a 16-0 run to go up 20-11 with 9:19 left in the first half. The Norse led by nine a couple times in the first half before Eastern Kentucky cut the margin to 30-26 at halftime.
The Norse could not shake the Colonels in the second half. But they made the plays down the stretch to win the game. The Colonels tied the game at 61 when freshman guard Tayshawn Comer hit a triple. But Warrick hit a free throw with 29 seconds to give the Norse the lead for good at 62-61.
After a Brandon block with nine seconds left, Tayshawn Comer tried a three-point shot, but missed and Vinson grabbed the rebound.
“The last play was kind of a risky play because I had one of their best shooters (forward Michael Moreno),” Brandon said. “I think (forward Isaiah Cozart) went in. I probably should have grabbed it. I just blocked it. They ended up missing the shot and fouled.”
At the other end, Vinson hit both free throws to make the final score. Colonels freshman guard Turner Buttry’s three from the right corner bounded off the rim with one second left allowing the Norse to escape with the win.
The Norse take on Miami (Ohio) University at Hamilton on Sunday at 2 p.m. The Harriers come in at 5-5 on the season.