Box score
HAMPTON, Va. – Five days before Christmas, Northern Kentucky University did some last-minute shopping Thursday night and picked up the kind of gift every basketball coach enjoys: a road victory.
NKU pulled out a hard-fought 54-52 victory over Hampton University in the HU Convocation Center.
Chad Jackson scored 18 points for NKU, which collected its first win as a Division I program.
The Norse (1-6) survived a late Hampton rally and defeated a Division I team in a regular-season game for the first time since Jan. 14, 1984, when the Norse upset Tennessee State, 66-64, in Highland Heights, Ky.
“I knew it wouldn't be easy, and it wasn't, but I give our guys a lot of credit because they found a way to win,” NKU head coach
Dave Bezold said. “Hampton kept battling in that last minute, but we made some free throws and it's a great way to start this road trip.”
NKU led by six points (50-44) with 31 seconds remaining after a pair of free throws by
Ethan Faulkner. Hampton (2-8) battled back and cut the Norse advantage to 51-49 with 10.7 seconds left on the clock when Jasper Williams drained a 3-pointer from the right corner.
Jackson was fouled and converted one of two free throws to extend NKU's lead to 52-49 with 10 seconds remaining. Hampton hustled the ball up the floor and Deron Powers scored on a layup to make it 52-51 with six seconds left.
The Pirates then fouled
Nate Snodgrass with 4.3 seconds on the clock, and the freshman guard made both free throws for a 54-51 NKU advantage. Snodgrass then fouled Powers before he could a attempt a 3-pointer, sending the Hampton guard to the line with just two seconds left.
Powers made the first free throw, and he intentionally missed the second toss. NKU and Hampton battled for the rebound, and the ball went out of bounds off the Norse with eight-tenths of a second on the clock. Hampton had a final chance, but Powers' inbounds pass went off the hands of Williams, sealing NKU's first-ever win as a Division I program.
Before Thursday's triumph at Hampton, NKU's last regular-season road win against a Division I program came on Nov. 28, 1983, a 61-59 overtime victory against Evansville in Robert Stadium.
“Snodgrass stepped up there and hit two big free throws in the final seconds,” Bezold said. “We had a number of people play well, and getting a road win is never easy.”
Jackson scored NKU's first eight points and had poured in 14 by halftime as the Norse took a 27-23 lead into the locker room. Snodgrass added eight of his 10 points off the bench in the first half for NKU.
Jalen Billups took over inside in the second half by scoring all 14 of his points. Billups also hauled down a career-high 10 rebounds and made several jumpers from outside the lane when Hampton's defense sagged back.
“It might be hard to believe, but Jalen is our most consistent shooter from that range and if they lay off him, I want him to shoot it,” Bezold said.
The Norse outrebounded the bigger Pirates by a 20-14 margin in the first half and finished with a 39-33 edge in that category. Stretch Watson grabbed nine rebounds off the bench for the Norse.
Emmanuel Okoroba kept Hampton close in the first half by scoring 14 of his 16 points. Powers added 15 points for Hampton.
NKU held the Pirates to just 31.5 percent shooting from the field, including a 2-for-19 effort from 3-point range. It marked the first meeting between the two programs.
NKU concludes the two-game road trip Saturday by playing Navy in Annapolis, Md. It will also mark the first meeting between NKU and Navy in men's basketball.
NORSE NOTES: NKU remained perfect (4-0) in games played in Virginia. In their only other trip to Virginia, the Norse won the 1996 Division II Tipoff Classic in Richmond, Va., knocking off South Dakota (95-87), Virginia Union (83-66) and Washburn (69-63 in overtime) to claim the season-opening tournament title… NKU is 1-1 all-time in games played in the state of Maryland, and both were during a 1986 regular-season tournament at Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg, Md. NKU defeated West Chester, 73-72, on Dec. 29, 1986, then dropped a 69-66 decision to host Mount St. Mary's the next evening. At that time, Mount St. Mary's was still competing at the Division II level but is now a Division I program…
Nate Snodgrass scored in double figures for the second time in his career Thursday night with 10 points. His career best is 12 points against Tulsa.
