OXFORD, Ohio – Lavone Holland II and Drew McDonald set the tone in Northern Kentucky's finale of the Tarkett Sports Classic, which saw the Norse down host Miami (Ohio), 79-70, at John D. Millett Hall on Sunday afternoon. Northern Kentucky improved to 3-2 on the year, while Miami dropped to 2-3.
 
NKU and Austin Peay tied with a 2-1 record in the event and both McDonald and Holland were named to the all-tournament team.
 
STATS LEADERS 

• Holland posted a team-best 25 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the floor. He also added a game-high five assists and four rebounds in the win.
• On the strength of 7-for-16 shooting, McDonald tallied 23 points. He finished with nine rebounds, one shy of recording a third-straight double-double, and chipped in four assists.

 
TURNING POINT

• The Norse held a slim three-point lead with 9:07 left in the game, when they went on an 11-3 run to push ahead by 11, 61-50. NKU weathered seven-consecutive points from Miami and used baskets from Holland and McDonald to keep the margin at two scores.
• Northern Kentucky sealed the game at the free-throw line, going 12-for-14 at the charity stripe in the last minute.

 
FIRST-HALF SUMMARY

• Holland converted 5-of-9 shots in the opening stanza to lead NKU to a 34-28 advantage.
• Trailing 21-16 with 7:49 left in the half, Northern Kentucky outscored Miami 18-7 the rest of the way.
• NKU's defense stiffened and held Miami without a field-goal for the final 6:46 of the half. The RedHawks converted just 11-of-27 (41 percent) of their attempts.
• As it has done through the first four games of the season, NKU held a strong 20-12 lead in rebounding. McDonald and Garrett hauled in five during the stanza.
• The Norse shot 48 percent (12-of-25), including 44 percent (4-of-9) from long range.

 
SECOND-HALF SUMMARY

• Northern Kentucky extended its six-point half-time margin to as many as 11 with 5-minutes left in the game.
• After Miami went on a 7-point spurt, Holland and McDonald responded with baskets to squelch the run.
• The RedHawks attempted to stretch the game over the final minute, but Holland, McDonald and Jordan Garnett combined to go 12-of-14 at the free-throw line.
• Cole Murray scored all 11 points in the second half, including a trio of threes as he went 3-for-6 from the floor for the second-straight game.

 
GAME NOTES

• In the three games of the Tarkett Sports Classic, McDonald averaged 24.0 points and 11.3 rebounds. He shot 48 percent (23-of-48) from the field and 85 percent (23-of-27) at the line.
• Holland averaged 15.3 points and 5.0 assists per game during the tournament. He also posted a 2.5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• For the fifth game in a row Northern Kentucky won the rebound battle, outrebounding Miami, 38-31. Dating back at least 10 years, this is the longest streak of games in which NKU won the battle of the boards.
• In the Division I era, Northern Kentucky has been above .500 twice. Both of those times have come this season.
• The last time NKU had two players score 20 or more points in a game came in last season's 90-73 victory at Oakland (Jan. 19, 2016) when Jalen Billups and Tyler White scored 22 and 20, respectively.

 
NEXT UP

• Northern Kentucky returns to BB&T Arena for a showdown with North Carolina Central on Saturday, Nov. 26. Tip is set for 7 p.m.

 
2016 Tarkett Sports Classic All-Tournament Team
Josh Robinson (MVP) - Austin Peay
Kenny Jones – Austin Peay
Drew McDonald – Northern Kentucky
Lavone Holland II – Northern Kentucky
Michael Weathers - Miami
Cazmon Hayes – Delaware
 
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