VALPARAISO, Ind. – Late momentum from the Northern Kentucky University men's basketball team was not enough to overcome Horizon League-leading Valparaiso on the road Thursday night as the Norse fell, 64-52, at the Athletics Recreation Center.

Despite the loss, NKU (9-15, 5-8 Horizon League) outscored the Crusaders 12-3 over the last six-and-a-half minutes. The Norse defense held the Crusaders (21-4, 11-1 Horizon League) to one of their last nine attempts as Valpo scored one basket over the final seven minutes of play.

Todd Johnson turned in a season-high nine points and pulled down four rebounds.

Jordan Garnett, Tyler White, Dean Danos and Drew McDonald posted seven points apiece while McDonald registered a team-high eight rebounds.

Keith Carter paced the Valparaiso offense with 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three.

An early Valpo run helped the Crusaders out to a 14-8 advantage as the Norse struggled to find the net in the early going.

The Norse cut the Valpo advantage to seven points after a McDonald triple at the 9:04 mark. NKU was hot from long range as threes from Murray and Todd Johnson made it a six-point game with five minutes left in the period.

However, NKU struggled to overcome a hot-shooting Valpo squad throughout the remainder of the half.

The Crusaders held a 38-20 advantage after the first 20 minutes of play.

The Norse then forced four Valpo turnovers over a three-minute span and scored six-straight points to make it 54-38 at the midway point of the second half.

The NKU defense then held Valpo scoreless for four minutes as the offense found its momentum.

Northern Kentucky returns to action on Saturday at UIC. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.

NORSE NOTES

• Valpo's 26 points in the second half was its lowest scoring half since the Crusaders fell to Wright State on Jan. 22 and scored 25 points in the first half.
• Johnson has 15 points across the last two games and has posted a season-high in back-to-back contests after scoring six points against Milwaukee.
• Five-of-11 shooting from three in the opening frame helped NKU come just shy of posting 10 or more total triples for the fifth time against a League opponent.