The Norse hosted the Wright State Raiders on Saturday in the battle of I-75. Both teams came into this game looking to end losing streaks in a pivotal Horizon League game.
LJ Wells was questionable to play for the Norse due to an illness, but got the green light and got the scoring started on the day by converting an and-one opportunity. The Raiders would then have an emphatic response by way of an 11-0 run that was capped off by a basket made by Jack Doumbia, making it 11-3 at the first media timeout.
Wells would give some life back to the Norse with his fifth point on the day. Trey Robinson would add to that with a free throw and a jumper. The game then became the Keaton Norris show, as an assist on a three and two threes of his own would help the Raiders build a 25-18 lead.
They would maintain that lead until Keeyan Itejere and Josh Dilling had something to say about it. Itejere would convert an and-one in the middle of two made threes from Dilling to give the Norse their first lead since the opening points of the game. Doumbia would take the run personally and go right at the chest of Itejere to convert a layup and cut the deficit to 32-31.
The Raiders would carry that tenacity to push themselves to a five-point lead behind a Doumbia bucket, through contact and a dunk from Andrea Holden off a dump-off pass in the lane. A fadeaway from Holden would cap off an impressive half for WSU to the tune of a 40-33 halftime lead.
The scoring would be sluggish to start the second half. Just like the first half, Wells would be the first to score. The first field goal of the second half for either side didn’t come until four minutes in when Doumbia scored on a backdoor cut.
Robinson would battle with the Raiders as he scored a field goal and three free throws to respond to WSU’s three from Andrew Welage and mid-range jumper from Doumbia. Norris would get back in the scoring rhythm as he made a back-breaking shot as the shot clock buzzer expired to go up 49-41. Drey Carter and Welage would continue the downpour as a 54-43 WSU lead would force the Norse timeout.
Sam Vinson attempted to make strides toward a comeback with a layup after converting an and-one the play before. The Raiders would score back-to-back buckets, and NKU would follow suit thanks to Gherzgher and Randall Pettus II making shots, shrinking the WSU lead to six.
WSU would get the lead back to double digits, but the Norse would not go out quietly. Vinson, Robinson and Dilling would find a groove and cut the lead down to three heading into the last four minutes.
The game would stay within one score, and NKU made one final push as Itejere collected an offensive rebound and slammed it back in with authority to cut the lead to three. Unfortunately, that would be the last points of the night for NKU. The Norse would ultimately fall to Wright State 78-70 to drop their fourth straight game and deliver a win for WSU to break their two-game losing streak.
NKU falls to 9-11 overall and 4-5 in the conference. They will look to turn the tide on Friday, Jan. 24 against the Milwaukee Panthers. The game will tip-off at 7 p.m. If you can’t make it to Truist Arena, the game can be seen on ESPN+.