The NKU men’s basketball team had its Horizon League home opener on a wet Wednesday evening, which saw the Norse face off against the Detroit Mercy Titans.
As fans rolled in for Military Appreciation night, the buzzer sounded, as the hype grew for tip-off
The referee threw up the ball, Keeyan Itejere tipped it back to Sam Vinson and Horizon League basketball was under way.
The Norse were the first to score, NKU had the ball out of bounds on the baseline; Vinson threw it into Itejere, who threw down a dunk with authority that brought the arena to its feet. But Detroit was quick to respond with a layup of their own that cooled off the arena.
Detroit Mercy led early into the game 6-5, but Randall Pettus II had other plans, as he went toe to toe with Detroit Mercy’s TJ Nadeau. Pettus took Nadeau straight to the basket, drawing the foul and making the shot leading to an and-one.
Pettus missed his free throw off the back of the rim and the ball found the hands of Itejere. As Itejere went up for the shot he also got fouled while making the layup leading to another and-one situation, Itejere converted his free throw making the game 10-6
NKU wasn’t done just yet, as a great offensive set found Hubertas Pivorius open for three which found nothing but net. This ended their 8-0 run giving them the lead 13-6
A made basket by the Titans gave NKU a chance back on offense as Vinson brought up the ball, Pivorius hit the floor hard. The referees went to the monitor and assessed Detroit Mercy’s guard, Nadeau with a flagrant one for the incident.
But that didn’t slow down the Titans, they went on a 5-0 run to cut the game within one to 14-15.
The Norse answered right back with a 5-0 run themselves, sparked by Pettus’ two made free throws pushing the game to 20-14.
After trading baskets Detroit Mercy found themselves down by one again, but Trey Robinson would score five points, with one being a monster dunk that brought life into Truist arena.
Robinson started a 10-2 run that opened up the game for the Norse with a hefty lead of nine points to 35-34.
A couple more baskets made by each team and a missed three from NKU’s Pivorius ended the first half of play with NKU leading 36-29.
After a cheerful halftime, the Titans went on a 5-0 run and were the first to get on the board with a three point basket made by Nate Johnson and two free throws made by Legend Geeter. This run cut into the Norse’s lead 36-34.
NKU would answer right back going on a 6-0 run pushing their lead back out to eight.
The Norse would retain this lead the rest of the game and even push the game to double digits, with 9:50 to go leading 53-42.
Detroit Mercy would cut the lead back to single digits, with a made jumper by Orlando Lovejoy making the game within eight points, but once again Pivorius answered back with a three sparking a 5-0 run extending the lead making the game 59-46.
Both teams making baskets of their own found the game within eight again. The Titans showed some life but couldn’t keep it within single digits.
NKU and Detroit Mercy would keep trading buckets. However, Josh Dilling put the icing on the cake with a made three point basket that ended the game sealing the deal, as NKU sailed to victory 73-60.
After the game NKU’s Coach Darren Horn gave Keeyan Itejere his flowers for a great performance.
“Keeyan Itejere is starting to play some consistency and be a presence on both ends for us. Hope you can get 13 (points), Seven (rebounds) and four blocks from Keeyan every night. I’d for sure take that,” Horn Said.
Itejere also talked about how he gets rebounds on both ends of the floor.
“Coach Horn taught me, … obviously, as a big man, I’m not physically big and speed is my strength. So just like looking to back up, read the ball and then use my speed to go get it is kind of how I’ve been trying to do it,” Itejere said .
The Norse’s hot run continues as they move their win streak to four and to 2-0 in conference play. NKU will end non-conference play at home Saturday versus South Carolina State at 12 p.m.. This game can also been seen on ESPN+.