Northern Kentucky University Athletics

Box score

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – David Palmer dominated the inside play Thursday night, and Northern Kentucky University collected yet another upset of a nationally ranked team in The Bank of Kentucky Center.

Palmer scored 16 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as NKU pulled off a 65-61 upset of No. 14 Drury. Dennis Gagai added 14 points for NKU, which improved to 12-10 overall, 5-8 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Drury, which entered the game ranked 14th nationally in the NCAA Division II poll, dropped to 17-4 overall, 10-2 in the GLVC. It marked the second time in three weeks that NKU posted an upset against a nationally ranked team at home on a Thursday night. Two weeks ago, the Norse knocked off then-No. 13 Kentucky Wesleyan, 67-62, in The Bank of Kentucky Center.

Palmer, a 6-foot-9 senior center, also blocked five shots and altered several other attempts by the smaller Panthers in the lane. Chris Knight finished with 10 points and eight rebounds for NKU, which owns a 5-2 lead in the all-time series against Drury.

Drury jumped out to a 10-2 lead and still owned an 18-9 edge midway through the first half. NKU, though, used a 16-5 run to gain a 25-23 advantage on Tony Rack's 3-pointer with 2:02 left before intermission. Drury tied the contest at 25-all on a pair of free throws right before the break.

Palmer took over in the second half, collecting 11 of his rebounds and scoring 10 points. The Norse took advantage of two technical fouls that were whistled against Drury's Alex Hall to build a 13-point lead and held off a late Panther rally to secure the upset.

Chase Elliott and Brandon Lockhart each scored 11 points to lead Drury, which made just 36.8 percent of its shots from the field.

NKU plays host to Missouri S&T at 5:15 p.m. Saturday.