NKU was looking for its third straight win as the Norse hosted the Norfolk State Spartans at Truist Arena on Sunday.
LJ Wells got the scoring started with a bucket for the Norse. That would quickly be answered by a made basket plus the free throw after contact by Christian Ings for NSU. The teams would then exchange free throws. A midrange and three pointer were then nailed by NSU’s Brian Moore Jr; Josh Dilling would answer for NKU with a three to cut the deficit to 10-7 at the first media timeout.
The next stretch of basketball would be high scoring and just as competitive. Kuluel Mading would find his first points of the day, but Dilling would answer with another big three. Jalen Myers would then convert an old school three point play to give Trey Robinson his second foul of the game. Keeyan Itejere and Mading followed that up by exchanging emphatic dunks. Wells would then go on a personal 4-0 run to give NKU the 19-17 lead at the next break.
After an exchange of free throws, a Sam Vinson Layup gave NKU a 25-23 lead. Trey Robinson would then get himself going with a personal 4-0 to put the Norse up 29-25. Ings would respond with a three pointer and Moore provided more offense with a three of his own. A contested layup by Terrance Jones and a midrange jumper from Itejere would see the game tied at 33 with just under 4 minutes left in the half.
The Norse would end the half on a strong note with a Vinson fast break layup and two more Dilling three pointers, one cashing in from the logo as the buzzer sounded to send the Norse into the half with a 41-38 lead.
The scoring would stumble to open the half as both teams failed to score for nearly three minutes to start the second half. Back to back and-one opportunities for the Spartans propelled them back into the lead heading into the first timeout of the half.
NKU would then find their offensive footing as two more Dilling threes found the bottom of the net and was followed by a Wells hook shot to put the Norse up seven.
NSU would go on a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to 53-50 and just like the rest of the night, Dilling would answer with a three pointer. A Vinson Layup and Dan Gherezgher Jr contested layup would inflate the lead to eight.
Randall Pettus II would get in on the scoring with two points of his own. Itejere would then come up with a block that left the backboard vibrating and sparked a run with a Vinson jumper and another Wells hook that put the Norse up nine and they would not look back on their way to a 71-62 win.
Dilling put up a season high 22 points behind seven made threes and Vinson had his best performance of the young season with 21 points.
NKU advances to 5-6 and a chance to hit .500 for the first time this season as they host the Detroit Mercy on Wednesday. The game will tip-off at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.