Northern Kentucky University Athletics

Photo gallery | Box score

OWENSBORO, Ky. – Unlike so many other visits in the past, Northern Kentucky University's final trip to the Owensboro Sportscenter ended with a victory over Kentucky Wesleyan on Thursday night.

Eshaunte Jones scored 15 points as No. 15 NKU posted a 67-55 win over No. 12 Kentucky Wesleyan in an NCAA Division II showdown. Chad Jackson (left) and DeAndre Nealy each added 11 points for the Norse, who won their fifth straight game and improved to 20-4 overall, 12-4 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Nealy also finished with three blocked shots and five rebounds, while Jackson grabbed nine rebounds. The Norse built a 39-26 halftime lead by shooting 51.7 percent from the field. Nealy scored eight in the first half, while Jones netted seven points.

“We played an outstanding first half, both offensively and defensively, and it was important in this environment to get an early lead,” NKU head coach Dave Bezold said. “Give our guys a lot of credit, because Kentucky Wesleyan has an excellent team. They took it to us at our place last month, but our players responded with a really good performance tonight.”

NKU held Kentucky Wesleyan to 39.6 percent shooting from the field and won the rebounding battle by a 36-27 margin. Jon Van Hoose and Ethan Faulkner each scored eight points for the Norse, with Faulkner dishing out six assists.

Stretch Watson added six points and five rebounds for NKU, which is 34-46 all-time against Kentucky Wesleyan. It marked the final trip to the Owensboro Sportscenter for NKU, which is reclassifying to Division I status next season.

The Norse finished 10-29 all-time in the Owensboro Sportscenter, with Bezold winning seven times as head coach in that facility.

Anthony Young scored 28 points to lead Kentucky Wesleyan, which dropped to 19-5 overall, 11-5 in the GLVC. Brandon Johnson added 14 points for the Panthers, who defeated NKU by 17 points (74-57) last month.

Nealy, who made all five of his shots from the field, now has 71 blocked shots. The all-time NKU single-season record for blocked shots is 73, set by Patrick Holt during the 1985-86 campaign.

NKU is now 55-129 all-time against nationally ranked opponents, including a 2-3 record this season.

It gets no easier on Saturday for NKU, which must face No. 11 Southern Indiana in The Bank of Kentucky Center at 3 p.m. The Screaming Eagles upset top-ranked Bellarmine on Thursday night and are also 20-4 overall, 12-4 in the GLVC.

Earlier this season, Southern Indiana rallied from a 19-point deficit to stun NKU, 69-68, in Evansville, Ind.