Chris Knight made a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left to give NKU the win.
Box score
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. –
Chris Knight buried a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds remaining in the game to give No. 24 Northern Kentucky University a 72-69 victory against Drury on Sunday, extending the Norse's winning streak to five.
Drury, which trailed by as many as 23 points in the second half, tied the game at 69-all with 27 seconds left on a basket by Dennon Mitchell. NKU held the ball for the final shot, and Knight drained a 24-footer to give the Norse a 72-69 lead.
Drury could only manage a desperation heave at the buzzer, and NKU won for the 10th time in the past 11 games.
Knight finished with 14 points and five rebounds for NKU, which improved to 18-4 overall, 11-3 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
Dennis Gagai added 11 points as the Norse handed Drury its first home loss of the season.
The Panthers, in their first season playing in the O'Reilly Event Center, were 11-0 at home prior to Sunday's loss.
Ethan Faulkner,
Malcolm Eleby and
Bobby Shannon all added eight points for NKU, which held a 51-28 lead with 16:18 left in the game. The Norse still owned a 66-54 lead with five minutes remaining, but Drury stormed back with a 15-3 run to tie the score at 69-all, setting the stage for Knight's heroics.
NKU dominated the first half and took a 42-28 lead at the break on
Tony Rack's 3-pointer just before the buzzer. The Norse then scored the first nine points of the second half to build a 51-28 bulge.
Jon Van Hoose came off the bench and hit a pair of 3-pointers for NKU, which finished 9-for-26 from behind the arc. NKU's bench outscored Drury's reserves by a 38-16 margin.
Knight, a 6-foot-7 senior forward from Cincinnati, Ohio, made both his 3-point attempts on Sunday. He entered the game having not hit a 3-pointer (0-for-2) this season,
Jajuan Maxwell led Drury (16-6 overall, 9-5 GLVC) with 22 points. NKU held Alex Hall, Drury's leading scorer at 19.6 points per game, to just 1-for-9 shooting from the field and nine points.
NKU returns home to meet GLVC rival Kentucky Wesleyan at 7:45 p.m. Thursday. The Norse also play host to No. 2 Bellarmine in a GLVC showdown at 7:45 p.m. Saturday.
