Men’s basketball headed to Detroit to take on the Titans Thursday night as they looked to bounce back after a five-game losing streak.
Detroit Mercy won the tip-off and the Norse quickly forced a turnover, allowing Keeyan Itejere to convert and put the first points on the board. Detroit Mercy’s TJ Nadeua responded with a three.
The Norse’s defense had the Titans turning the ball over time and time again, and both Sam Vinson and Trey Robinson were able to convert those turnovers into points.
NKU’s Josh Dilling made a jumper to give the Norse the early lead as they led 7-5 at the first media timeout.
Detroit Mercy’s Orlando Lovejoy went on a 6-0 run to give the Titans a 12-9 lead.
After five minutes without scoring a field goal, Randall Pettus II drained a shot, followed by Dan Gherezgher Jr. to take the one-point lead, but Nadeau hit a shot from beyond the arc to take the lead right back.
Vinson stole the ball and laid it in to tighten the deficit, but the Titans offense was unstoppable, as Greeter made a layup to start a 10-3 run to extend their 27-18 lead.
With one minute left in the half,Itejere knocked a shot down, but the Titans answered every time, as Emmanuel Kuac followed with two points of his own.
Both teams took three-point attempts before the half ended, but both came up short. NKU struggled from beyond the arc, shooting 0-9 from three.
Despite the Norse having 11 points off of eight turnovers from the Titans, the Norse still trailed 31-22 at halftime.
Nadeu drained back-to-back threes to give the Titans the double digit lead 37-22 forcing NKU’s Head Coach Darrin Horn to burn a timeout early.
The Norse had no answer for Nadeau as he knocked down another three, but a pair of free throws from Vinson ignited a small 6-0 run for the Norse as they tried to close the 42-28 deficit.
Both teams traded free throws until Dilling hit back-to-back threes on Norse possessions to bring the Norse back within single digits, 47-38.
The Norse struggled on both sides of the floor as the Titans went on a 6-0 run. Pettus II ended the Titans run as he and Itejere put the Norse within 10 at 56-46.
The Norse came alive as Gherezgher drained a much needed three, followed by a layup from Robinson to make it a five-point game; however, Kuac immediately followed through with a layup, and Chase Kuiper added two more points to keep the Titans in control.
Dilling knocked down his third three of the night as the Norse fought back late, trailing just 60-55 at the final media timeout.
The Titans ended the game on a 8-2 run, and the Norse would not make another field goal for the rest of the game, shooting just 30.2% from the field and 14.8% from three on 27 attempts on the night.
NKU fell to Detroit Mercy 68-57, falling to 4-7 in Horizon League play and 1-8 on the road.
The Norse take on Oakland Saturday at OU Credit Union O’rena, with tip-off set for 4 p.m.