Northern Kentucky University Athletics

Box score

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Unlike last year, Northern Kentucky University did not need a buzzer-beating basket to defeat Christian Brothers when the two teams met Friday night.

Instead, NKU used a 22-0 run to key its 51-44 victory against Christian Brothers during the first round of the John L. Griffin/Lions Club Classic. NKU (2-0) trailed 16-5 with 9:51 remaining in the first half, but the Norse closed with an 18-0 run to take a 23-16 lead at the break.

NKU then scored the first four points of the second half to cap the 22-0 spurt and build a 27-16 advantage. The Norse held Christian Brothers (3-1) without a field goal for nearly 19 minutes and led by as many as 15 points in the second half.

“It's a very good win, and that's a team that is going to wind up in the NCAA Tournament,” NKU head coach Dave Bezold said. “They're very well coached, and they force you into a certain style. I was very happy with, most of the night, our focus with the exception of probably the first five minutes of the first half, and maybe four or five minutes of the second half. We fouled too much in that last stretch, but I'm very happy we got the win.”

Malcolm Eleby scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead NKU. Josh Tabb added 11 points for the Norse, who held Christian Brothers to 26.1 percent shooting from the field.

“Defense is the key to anything when it comes to basketball,” said Eleby, a transfer from St. Bonaventure. “The better we are at defense, the better we are as a team. We're going to go as far as our defense is going to take us.”

Christian Brothers stayed in the game by making 16-of-22 free throws in the second half. Despite their cold shooting from the field, the Buccaneers eventually cut the NKU lead to three points (47-44) with 1:19 remaining on a layup by Scott Dennis.

After Corey Sorrell missed a shot with less than a minute left, Christian Brothers rebounded and worked the ball to Alex Rogers for an open 3-pointer that would have tied the game.

Rogers' attempt rimmed out, and NKU's Chris Knight grabbed the rebound while being fouled with 22.1 seconds remaining. Knight made both free throws to extend the Norse lead to 49-44, and Eleby later added a pair of free throws to seal the victory.

Tony Rack came off the bench and sparked NKU's first-half run with a pair of 3-pointers. Rack also ignited the defense with three steals.

Dennis led Christian Brothers with 14 points and 11 rebounds. A year ago, NKU needed an 18-foot jumper by Dustin Maguire at the buzzer to pull out a 59-57 win against Christian Brothers in the John L. Griffin/Lions Club Classic.

NKU is now 7-2 all-time against Christian Brothers.

The Norse conclude the two-day event Saturday at 7:45 p.m. by playing Charleston (W.Va.), which posted an 83-76 win against UC-Clermont in Friday's other first-round game.