Men’s basketball hosted reigning Horizon League champion Oakland on Saturday. The Golden Grizzlies were without Starter Malcolm Christie who averages 10 points per game.
The Golden Grizzlies started strong right after the tip off as Tuburu Naivalurua hit a layup, followed by a three from Jack Hoth who made his first start today after initially planning to redshirt this season. NKU’s Randall Pettus responded with a three to put the Norse on the board as the Grizzlies led 5-3 early.
Oakland’s DQ Cole picked off the ball and converted it from beyond the arc to force the Norse to burn an early timeout. Coach Darrin Horn responded with benching all starters except Trey Robinson and went with a new rotation.
Despite a three from NKU’s Hubertas Pivourius, the Norse could not get a stop as the Golden Grizzlies led 15-6 at the first media timeout.
The Norse held the Golden Grizzlies off the board for three minutes as they climbed back into the game with a layup from Robinson and another three from Pivorius to cut their deficit down, 15-12.
Oakland’s scoring drought ended with a three from Naivalurua as he started a 7-0 run. The Golden Grizzlies took their first double digit lead of the night 22-12.
The Norse and Golden Grizzlies traded baskets, but Cole drained his fourth three of the half to start a 11-0 run to take the 39-22 lead over the Norse.
The Golden Grizzlies defense slowed down as Sam Vinson put in his first shot of the night to ignite a 8-2 run for the Norse to end the half trailing 41-32.
Right out of the half, NKU’s Keeyan Itejere stole the ball from Cole and finished with a dunk. The Norse’s offense stayed alive as a jumper from Vinson made it a five-point game.
Oakland made their first shot three minutes into the second half, capitalizing off of second-chance points. NKU struggled to grab a defensive rebound as they allowed the Golden Grizzlies to score 29 second-chance points throughout the game.
Oakland’s Nassim Mashhour was fouled on a three-point jumper as he converted the four-point play to extend the Golden Grizzlies lead, 47-38.
Despite back-to-back turnovers from Mashhour, the Norse could not capitalize due to poor shooting as they shot just 36.4% from the field.
The Norse kept battling but with every shot they made, the Grizzlies had an answer as the Norse trailed 51-41 at the under 12 media timeout.
NKU’s Randall Pettus II and Itejere got the Norse back within single digits, but a three from Hoth started a 11-0 run for the Golden Grizzlies. The Norse found themselves in trouble as they were down 66-46 with only four minutes left to play.
Vinson was able to hit one from deep, but with the team shooting 24% from three, the Norse were unable to climb back.
LJ Wells made the last shot of the game as the Norse fell to Oakland 68-53.
Vinson led the Norse with 11 points.
The Norse take on Cleveland State Wednesday, with tip off set for 7 p.m. at Wolstein Center.