The NKU men’s basketball team’s attempted second-half comeback fell short Saturday in a 70-65 to Cleveland State at BB&T Arena.

Northern Kentucky led until the midway point of the second half. Jalen Billups gave NKU its last lead 52-50 with 9:20 remaining.

A 15-5 Cleveland State run gave the Vikings a 65-55 lead with 3:30 remaining.

NKU (5-11, 1-4 in Horizon League) tried to chip away at the Viking lead. A three by Brennan Gillis pulled the Norse within six, 67-61, with 1:14 remaining.

Lavone Holland II cut the Norse deficit to four with a dunk with 37 seconds remaining. However, the Norse got no closer than four as the Vikings iced the game from the free throw line.

Tyler White led the Norse with 17 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 4 steals. Cole Murray added 12 points.

Kenny Carpenter led Cleveland State (6-13, 1-5) with 18 points. Demonte Flannigan added 13 points and 7 rebounds.

The Norse hit the road 7 p.m. Tuesday to take on Oakland. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.

McDonald, White earn weekly honors

Drew McDonald was named Horizon League freshman of the week Monday for the second time this season. He scored 16 points on 8 of 13 shooting in 17 minutes to help the Norse pick up its first-ever Horizon League win Thursday against Youngstown State.

In addition, the website College Sports Madness named Tyler White the Horizon League player of the week. White averaged 18.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7 assists last week.

Summary

Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016

@ BB&T Arena, Highland Heights, Kentucky

Cleveland State 70, Northern Kentucky 65

C — 29 – 41 — 70
N — 27 – 38 — 68

(70) CLEVELAND STATE (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Flannigan 5-0-3-13, Zollo 2-1-3-8, Yates 3-2-2-10, Edwards 3-1-0-7, Hales 2-0-1-5, Sloan 0-0-1-1, Carpenter 7-4-0-18, Blout 0-0-1-1, Maxwell 2-1-0-5, Scales 0-0-2-2. TOTALS 24-9-13-70.

(68) NORTHERN KENTUCKY (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Garnett 0-0-4-4, Billups 4-0-1-9, White 6-4-1-17, Holland II 3-0-1-7, Murray 4-4-0-12, Cole 1-1-0-3, Gillis 2-1-0-5, Giesler 1-0-0-2, McDonald 2-0-2-6. TOTALS 23-10-9-65.

FIELD GOALS: C 24/51 (Carpenter 7/11, Flannigan 5/12, Edwards 3/10, Yates 3/5); N 23/55 (White 6/14, Murray 4/8, Billups 4/6)

3 POINT FIELD GOALS: C 9/16 (Carpenter 4/5); N 10/26 (White 4/10, Murray 4/8)

FREE THROWS: C 13/22 (Flannigan 3/4, Zollo 3/4); N 9/20 (Garnett 4/4)

REBOUNDS: C 37 (Blout 11, Flannigan 7, Hales 5, Carpenter 5); N 36 (White 6, Garnett 5, Murray 4, Gillis 4)

ASSISTS: C 16 (Yates 4, Hales 3, Carpenter 3); N 18 (White 8)

STEALS: C 6; N 7 (White 4)

BLOCKED SHOTS: C 3 (Blout 2); N 3

TURNOVERS: C 12; N 12