A late run by Northern Kentucky came up short on Saturday night as the Norse fell at home to North Carolina Central.
NKU used a 19-5 run to cut the Eagles’ lead to five with just 21 seconds left, but the time ran out on the Norse who fall to 3-3 on the year.
Drew McDonald and Lavone Holland II put in 20 points apiece in the losing effort. With 11 rebounds, it was the third double-double for McDonald in the last four games. He has scored 20 points or more four games in a row.
Freshman Blake Spellman dished out a career-high and team-best five assists in 19 minutes of play.
The Norse led most of the early stages of the game but NC Central closed the first half on an 18-0 run. It would be all Eagles from there. NKU was able to get within four, at 53-49 with 10:50 left to play, but another run by the Eagles that saw the visitors put in 11 unanswered points at BB&T Arena, put the game out of reach.
Next up for the Norse is a two-game road swing that starts Wednesday with a visit to Morehead State.
Norse women beat East Tennessee State
The NKU woman improved to 2-3 on the season with a win at home over East Tennessee State, 62-56.
“We really moved the ball much better than we had been, and that’s something we’ve been emphasizing in practice. So our shots were better shots. I’m just really proud of our effort,” said head coach Camryn Whitaker. “We outrebounded them by 13 and had 17 offensive rebounds. We took care of the basketball much better in the turnover column. It’s our extra effort, and those are signs that we’re being aggressive and attacking the basket.”
Junior guard Mikayla Terry had a breakout game with a career-high 23 points, marking the first time that she scored more than 10 points in a game. She went 4-for-4 from 3-point range.
Junior forward Kasey Uetrecht added a season-best 15 points to go with three assists.
NKU is now 5-0 all-time against their former Atlantic Sun conference foe. The Norse return home for an early game Wednesday against another former Atlantic Sun rival when NKU tips off against Stetson at 11:30 a.m.
-Staff report
Image via NKU Athletics