The Norse basketball teams welcomed fans to Truist Arena for a day full of post-Thanksgiving basketball, as NKU would show down in a doubleheader. 

NKU women’s basketball vs EKU

The women’s team would welcome the in-state rival Eastern Kentucky Colonels into town, and the men’s team would welcome the in-state rivals of Bellarmine.

After some early scoring from Althea Kara Angeles for the Colonels giving them an 11-5 lead, the Norse started their feasting, as seven points from Macey Blevins and some tough paint points by Mya Meredith and Halle Idowu allowed the Eastern Kentucky lead to be cut down to 13-12.

This would propel a 13-2 run for the Norse, which saw guard play from Jaci Jones, Anna Hamilton and Kalissa Lacy combine for eight of the points in that run. An emphatic crowd would pair well with the Norse’s 26-15 lead after the first quarter.

The teams would continue to keep this point differential through most of the second quarter, until a Liz Freihofer three ball would cut the lead down to seven, 34-27. This triggered something in the Colonels, as they would go blow for blow with the Norse in the final four minutes of the first half.

A 9-6 run by EKU would be topped off by, once again, a Liz Freihofer three-pointer. The Norse saw paint points of their own on this run though, as it would keep them in the lead 40-36.

The third quarter was nearly even between the teams, as EKU would put together a 21-point quarter to NKU’s 23. However, the Norse offense was run through Halle Idowu, the team’s leader in double-digit scoring games with six. She would go off for 13 points in this quarter, which would prove to be enough to counteract the same 13 that Alice Recanati and Freihofer would combine for. The Norse would find themselves up 63-57 entering the final quarter of an entertaining game.

The Colonels were cooking to start off this final quarter of play, as they came out of the gates with a 16-6 run. They did not let foul trouble keep them away from attacking the heart of NKU, as EKU had four different players that were carrying the weight of four fouls all out on the court at the same time. The Norse were told to “rev up those fryers” as Freihofer cashed in two threes during this run to pair with Kaitlyn Costner’s seven points in this run.

A Meredith tip in and jumper would be the hope to slow down this run and hopefully take this game back, but it would prove to be the last meaningful points in the game. In the final four minutes of the game, the Colonels would make nine free throws that would slowly push NKU further and further back. 

While Kamora Morgan, coming off a week where she earned Horizon League freshman of the week honors, was able to hit two free throws to pull closer and make the game 78-75 with 30 seconds to go, it would not be enough to grant them their third win of the season.

Eastern Kentucky would hold on, from the power of a great second half that saw them score 48 points on 50% shooting from the field, to win their fifth game in a row, 84-75. The Norse would drop to 2-6 after yet another crushing single digit loss.

The Norse will travel to play the reigning Horizon League champion Cleveland State Vikings on Wednesday. The tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.

NKU men’s basketball vs Bellarmine

The second game of the double header saw fans roll in as the snow began to fall outside of Truist Arena. The women went off the court and the men stepped on to face off against Bellarmine.

The game started out aggressive for Bellarmine, as they won the jump ball and got right to work. They worked NKU’s defense, only taking a few dribbles before finding the open man as Ben Johnson got the scoring started for Bellarmine with a three. 

Bellarmine would jump out to an early 8-2 lead, but Sam Vinson had other ideas for the Norse. After a made two-point jumper and a three the next trip down the court, he cut into the lead quickly making it within one at 8-7.

After the Knights made some baskets extending the lead to 13-7, the Norse would go on a 6-0 run to tie up the game 13-13, but the Knights couldn’t miss from deep, extending the lead again to three at 16-13.

Randall Pettus II would showcase his ability to score at all three levels and scored five straight points, to take back the lead 18-16.

With more lead changes, NKU found themself up 27-21 after a 7-0 run sparked by LJ Wells, who had a great touch around the rim to finish in traffic. 

Bellarmine would still not go away after going on a little run themself, cutting the lead within one to 27-26, but at this point of the game, Bellarmine started to get frustrated with the foul calls and their bench got called for a warning.

This would change the tide for the Norse, as they kept up their aggression on both ends of the floor. Pettus would make a highly-contested layup, going straight up with the Knights’ big man Billy Smith, but Pettus somehow found the bottom of the net.

Trey Robinson would be the last to score for the Norse in the half, with a made layup giving the Norse the lead going into halftime 34-31.  

The Knights of Bellarmine started the second half in aggressive fashion, much like the first. They went on a 7-4 run to start the half to knot the score at 38, behind Jack Karasinski who put in a three pointer and a layup, and Tyler Doyle who knocked down a free throw after making a bucket despite a tough foul. 

The next stretch of minutes would be back and forth as Vinson made a layup, while teammates Pettus II and Hubertas Pivorius would knock down perimeter jumpers. 

Those shots would be answered with a Billy Smith three pointer for the Knights and a three-point play the old-fashioned way put together by Myles Watkins to take the game into the first media break of the half with the Norse clinging to a 46-44 lead. 

The Knights would not go away easy. They came out of the break emphatically as Karasinski flushed home a two-handed jam and put in a three pointer. The Norse were able to answer those baskets with Keeyan Itejere stepping up, coming off the bench for the first time this season, with a dunk and an and-one converted the play after to give NKU a 53-50 lead. 

Bellarmine would answer with three points of their own from Smith. After that, NKU broke the game wide open. A Josh Dilling three would be paired with an Itejere one-handed tomahawk dunk, and a two-handed Vinson block that echoed throughout Truist Arena. That jump-started a fast break that punctuated with a Pettus II corner three that made the crowd erupt to send the Norse into the next media timeout with a 61-53 lead.

The Norse would continue to put their foot on the gas as a Robinson hook shot would give the Norse the first double digit lead of the game. Robinson would continue to be aggressive, as he made a shot through contact and added a free throw. 

Another contested layup from Pettus II would add to his career night, as he gave NKU a 65-53 lead. 

The Knights would make one final push as they cut the deficit to single digits after the eight-minute media timeout. The comeback attempt would be extinguished by the seniors as a Robinson spin and dunk, along with a Vinson bucket and free throw after contact would see the lead balloon to 81-64.

The Norse would not look back and won the game 86-70, to get back in the win column. NKU coach Darrin Horn said he was impressed with his team putting a full performance together.

“I thought our guys did a tremendous job locking in on the game plan to give us our best chance to win’” Horn said. 

Pettus II finished the game with a career-high 20 points, and Horn acknowledged the great effort from his sophomore guard, who he has high expectations for.

“He was a complete player tonight and really impacted the game in a major way,” Horn said. 

Robinson had a game-high 24 points and Horn applauded Robinson for being able to step up to the unique challenge he has to face. 

“Trey is probably the toughest challenge of all because he’s a fifth-year senior,” Horn said. “We’re asking you to make very few mistakes…and I thought he did a great job of that.” 

Horn added that he felt Robinson was locked in from tip off to the final buzzer. 

As the game drew near to an end, all eyes were on Vinson who came into this game 21 points shy of 1,000 overall for his collegiate career. He finished with 18 on the night, just three points shy of the career accomplishment, but was much more focused on the importance of the win.

“Scoring 1,000 is great, but the main thing was just getting a win today, getting back on track as a team and moving forward and trying to build off this,” Vinson said.

The Norse improve to 2-5 on the season. Before starting conference play, NKU will be on the road Tuesday to play the Akron Zips. Tip off will be at 7 p.m.