DETROIT – Four Norse reached double figures and the Northern Kentucky men's basketball team won its 10^th game of the season in an 81-70 victory at Detroit Mercy on Thursday night to open Horizon League play.
 
The win moves NKU to 10-4 on the year, while Detroit falls to 2-11.
 
STATS LEADERS

• Lavone Holland II carried the offensive load early, scoring the first nine points for NKU, and closed with 21.
• Cole Murray provided a second-half offensive explosion. He connected on six treys in the second frame and matched Holland's 21 points.
• Drew McDonald added 12 points and six boards.
• Carson Williams gave NKU its fourth player in double figures with 10. He also pulled down seven boards.
• Jeff Garrett hauled in a game-high-tying eight boards.

 
TURNING POINT

• Trailing 43-45 with 15 minutes left, Cole Murray went on a personal 9-3 run and ignited the Norse. NKU never trailed the rest of the way and built as much as an 18-point lead with three minutes to play.

 
FIRST-HALF SUMMARY

• Holland scored 11 points in the half, but an 8-1 run by Detroit sent NKU into the locker room trailing, 39-34.
• Holland opened with nine-straight Norse points to start the game as both teams came out firing on all cylinders.
• McDonald's three with just over 14 minutes remaining kick-started a 9-0 run and stretch where the Norse outscored the Titans, 16-4, to pull ahead 25-16.
• The Norse shot 40 percent (12-of-30), but allowed the Titans to convert 52 percent (14-of-27).
• NKU owned the boards, 20-13.

 
SECOND-HALF SUMMARY

• After both teams traded buckets to open the half, Murray caught fire and connected on three-straight threes in a span of 1:12 of game time.
• Murray ended up connecting on six threes in the half, with all six coming within a six-minute segment.
• NKU converted 9-of-16 (56 percent) from long range in the half.
• The Norse defense stiffened in the second half, limiting the Titans to 13-of-33 shooting (39 percent).

 
GAME NOTES

• The win is NKU's 10^th of the season, surpassing last year's nine-win total in just the first game of the League season. There are at least 18 games left on the schedule.
• Northern Kentucky punished Detroit on the glass, 44-31, winning the rebounding battle for the 13^th time in just 14 contests.
• Murray must really like Calihan Hall. In last season's meeting at Detroit Mercy, he went off for 25 points behind 7-for-10 three-point shooting. Murray has now gone 14-for-22 (64 percent) from three in the two games in Calihan.
• NKU moves to 3-0 in Horizon League regular-season games in the Motor City, averaging 87.3 ppg in those contests over the last two seasons.

 
NEXT UP

• The Norse continue play in the Horizon League and stay in the Detroit area for a matchup with Oakland on New Year's Eve. Game time at the Blacktop at the O'rena in Rochester, Michigan, is at 3 p.m.