CLEVELAND, Ohio — Despite a late surge, the NKU men’s basketball team dropped a road contest at Cleveland State Thursday night, 63-58.

The game was tight throughout the late stages of the second half. When Drew McDonald hit a jumper with 2:35 remaining, the Norse had a 57-56 lead.

Rob Edwards knocked down two free throws for Cleveland State with 2:08 left to give the Vikings a 58-57 lead.

After an empty possession for the Norse, Andre Yates scored at the other end to increase the Cleveland State lead to 60-57 with 41 seconds left.

McDonald was fouled by Vinny Zollo with 20 seconds left. McDonald made just one of the two shots, and Zollo got the rebound and was fouled. He cashed in at the line with 16 seconds left to finish off the victory for the Vikings.

For the Norse (9-19, 5-12 in Horizon League), McDonald led the way with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Jalen Billups added 17 points while Tyler White scored 11.

Rob Edwards led the Vikings (9-21, 4-13) with 19 points. Kenny Carpenter added 15.

Northern Kentucky wraps up the regular season 7 p.m. Saturday at Youngstown State.

Summary

Thursday, Feb. 26, 2016

@ Wolstein Center, Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland State 63, Northern Kentucky 58

N — 24 – 34 — 58
C — 31 – 32 — 63

(58) NORTHERN KENTUCKY (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Billups 5-0-7-17, McDonald 7-0-6-20, White 4-3-0-11, Murray 1-1-0-3, Cole 1-1-0-3, Holland II 1-1-1-4. TOTALS 19-6-14-58.

(63) CLEVELAND STATE (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Zollo 2-2-2-8, Yates 4-0-1-9, Edwards 5-3-6-19, Carpenter 5-2-3-15, Blount 3-0-2-8, Maxwell 1-0-2-4. TOTALS 20-7-16-63.

FIELD GOALS: N 19/48 (McDonald 7/11, Billups 5/11, White 4/8); C 20/53 (Edwards 5/15, Carpenter 5/9, Yates 4/10)

3 POINT FIELD GOALS: N 6/17 (White 3/4); C 7/20 (Edwards 3/6)

FREE THROWS: N 14/20 (Billups  7/7, McDonald 6/7); C 16/23 (Edwards 6/6)

REBOUNDS: N 36 (McDonald 12, Billups 5, White 5); C 32 (Zollo 5, Edwards 5, Carpenter 5)

ASSISTS: N 14 (Holland 5, Johnson 5); C 8 (Yates 5)

STEALS: N 2; C 8

BLOCKED SHOTS: N 4 (Billups 2); C 4

TURNOVERS: N 15; C 9