NKU men’s basketball welcomed the IU-Indy Jaguars in a pivotal Horizon League battle on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
Fans packed the arena for Senior Day. The band, cheer and dance teams recognized multiple seniors and all their achievements.
The cheers started to fill the arena, the buzzer sounded and the ball was thrown up in the air. NKU’s Keeyan Itejere tipped the ball back, finding the hands of Dan Gherezgher and the Norse were off and running.
IU-Indy was the first to score off a turnover from the Norse to get themselves an easy layup at the rim. After missing their first five shots, the Norse were able to respond right back, going on an 8-1 run all started by Sam Vinson as he found a cutting Trey Robinson for a contested layup at the rim. Robinson also hit a layup and a free throw and Josh Dilling closed out the run with a big-time three giving them the early 8-3 lead.
Both teams traded baskets as the game found itself all tied up at 11. IU-Indy took back the lead with authority going on a 7-0 run. The run started with Sean Craig as he went straight up with NKU’s bigs, scoring a layup at the rim while getting fouled. He converted on the free throw. Then the Jags were back at the line as DeSean Goode made two. Craig ended the run with another attack at the rim as he converted the layup giving them the 18-11 lead.
The Norse fought back with a run of their own, going on a 9-0 run that captured the lead right back. Robinson started the run with a layup, then two threes made by Dilling and Gherezgher brought some life back into the arena. LJ Wells ended the run by making a free throw giving them a two-point lead, 20-18.
The last four minutes of the first half saw three lead changes as both teams traded baskets.
NKU ended the half on a 4-0 run started by Gherezgher. He got downhill, slipping past multiple defenders, getting a tough layup at the rim.
On the defensive end, NKU forced a turnover. With time expiring, the ball flew around the court finding Dilling, who faked out his defender, took two steps toward the basket, getting a contested baseline jumper to fall with time expiring. This gave the Norse a three-point lead going into half, 34-31.
After a halftime show full of unicycles, both teams came out looking to find balance on offense. They traded baskets back and forth, and the game got as close as three, but the Norse piled onto their lead going on a 9-0 run.
Robinson once again started the run with a highly-contested layup. Gherezgher was next as he got five quick points from a three and a layup. To end the run, Dilling got a steal and a quick score extending their lead to 12, 47-35.
NKU kept their 10-point lead for about 10 minutes. The Jaguars cut it down to single digits with a Craig three. But once again both teams traded baskets until the three-minute mark. IU-Indy went on a 5-0 run to close out the game but it wasn’t enough.
NKU battled till the final whistle, snatching the 71-67 win at home.
The Norse are on a two-game winning streak and are heating up at the right time as they have two more games left in the regular season. They sight their ship toward Fort Wayne, Ind. to take on Purdue Fort Wayne Thursday at 7 p.m. This game will be broadcast on ESPN+.