The NKU men’s basketball team had its first round game of the Horizon League tournament. They faced off against the Detroit Mercy Titans on a cool Tuesday evening.
The buzzer sounded, the student section began to fill as they hyped up their team. The bowl of the arena grew in excitement, as this was a big game deciding the fate of both teams’ seasons.
The referee tossed up the ball, Detroit Mercy’s Ryan Kalambay tipped the ball back to Orlando Lovejoy and the horses were off.
The Norse got on the board first with a three from Dan Gherezgher Jr. then the next play for the Norse, Gherezgher led the break and found an open Josh Dilling to take an early 6-0 lead. The Titans answered right back with a layup of their own, cutting the lead to 6-2.
After a Keeyan Itejere layup, Detroit came down and made a corner three by TJ Nadeau.The Norse responded right back with another Dilling three-pointer to have an early 11-5 lead.
With multiple made free throws from Detroit Mercy, NKU’s lead was cut to one. LJ Wells scored a tough hookshot over his defender, but the Titans didn’t go away. The shot clock wound down finding the hands of Mak Micheal. He put up the shot while fading away, hitting nothing but net to tie the game up at 13.
The Norse kept their foot on the gas as they went on an 8-0 run sparked by a Wells three-pointer. The next to score was Gherezgher as he also hit a three. The run ended on a Randall Pettus II layup pushing the lead to 21-13.
Detroit Mercy scored off a turn around jumper by Emmanuel Kuac. Once again the Norse went on 8-0 run. Four of those points came from the free-throw line, but the other four came inside the paint. Trey Robinson got a fastbreak layup to go, then Gherezgher backed his defender down low and hit a turnaround jumper to extend their lead to 29-15.
The Titans got into a rhythm as Manciel went on a 5-0 run himself. He attacked the rim with authority as he got a circus layup to go while getting fouled. He converted the free throw but wasn’t done yet. Manciel broke down his defender and pulled up, sinking the jumper to cut the lead back to single digits, 29-20.
Both teams traded baskets, but a turnover by Detroit Mercy sparked another NKU run. The Norse went on a 9-0 run started by a fast break layup by Sam Vinson. Hubertas Pivorius got into the action with a corner three. The run ended at the line as Robinson sank both free throws pushing the lead to 40-24.
Detroit Mercy answered right back with a 7-0 run of their own started by a Kuac layup. Their run ended with an offensive rebound by Lovejoy putting it back up while getting fouled. He converted the free throw, cutting the lead back to single digits, 40-31.
Once again both teams traded baskets. NKU was the last to score as Vinson made one free throw at the line. The Norse came out on top to end the half with a 12-point lead, 49-37.
After a halftime show full up jump ropes, the Norse jumped right into action getting the first points on the board with a layup by Itejere. The Titans responded back going on a 6-0 run. Nadeau hit a three and Nate Johnson also hit a three to cut the lead to eight, 51-43.
Up until the 15-minute mark, both teams traded baskets and the game got as close as six, but the Norse kept their foot on it as they went on a 10-0 run. The run started out with a Wells emphatic dunk. Next was Dilling who got six straight points just off three-pointers. To close out the run Wells and Robinson got easy looks at the basket pushing their lead back to double digits, 70-52.
The Titans responded with two jumpers from Lovejoy until NKU went back on another run, this time going on a 6-0 run. Gherezgher started out the run, with a little shake and bake, breaking down his defender and attacking the rim with authority getting the layup to go. The run ended at the line once again as Robinson sank both free throws, pushing out the margin to 21 points, 78-57.
The last 10 minutes of action saw both teams trading baskets, but NKU came out as the better offensive team as they cruised to a 99-75 win over the Titans.
The Norse move their hot streak to five, keeping their ship floating. They turn their sail toward Cleveland as they face off against the Cleveland State Vikings Thursday at 8 p.m. in the second round of the Horizon League tournament. This game can be seen on ESPN+.