CLEVELAND – The Northern Kentucky men's basketball team ended its northeast Ohio road trip with a 78-61 win over Cleveland State. The Norse are now 17-7 on the year and 10-2 in the Horizon League. Cleveland State falls to 6-19 overall and 3-9 in the League.
 
STATS LEADERS

• Lavone Holland II led all scorers with 21 points. He also added five rebounds and three assists.
• Drew McDonald added 19 points, seven rebounds and career-high seven assists.
• Mason Faulkner finished with 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting, including a 3-of-3 performance from behind the arc.
• Tyler Sharpe contributed 12 points, and Carson Williams had six points and season-high 11 rebounds.

 
TURNING POINT

• A 10-0 run late in the first half allowed NKU to build a 22-point lead at 35-13 with 4:14 to play until halftime. Cleveland State was unable to overcome the deficit and never cut the margin to single digits.

 
FIRST-HALF SUMMARY

• The Norse jumped out to a 10-3 lead early in the half thanks to a 10-0 run.
• Cleveland State closed the gap to 10-9, but NKU proceeded to go on another 10-0 run to take a 20-9 lead. Sharpe made back-to-back three-pointers during the spurt.
• NKU had one more 10-0 run in the half to extend its lead to 35-13, and the Norse went into halftime with a 40-26 advantage.
• The Norse shot 15-of-25 (60.0%) from the floor and 7-of-10 (70.0%) from the three-point line.
• NKU held Cleveland State to just 9-of-25 (36.0%) on field goals and 4-of-10 (40.0%) on attempts from behind the arc.
• The Norse had a 19-7 advantage in rebounds, and a 20-6 advantage in bench points.
• NKU recorded 11 assists on 15 made field goals during the half.
• Faulkner had 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting, including a 3-of-3 performance from behind the arc. McDonald added 11 points in the half.

 
SECOND-HALF SUMMARY

• The Norse maintained their advantage during the second half, as Cleveland State only got to within 10 points.
• NKU led by as much as 19 in the stanza and went on to win by a final score of 78-61.
• The Norse went 15-of-30 (50.0%) on field goals in the second half and 4-of-9 (44.4%) on three-point attempts.
• Cleveland State was 12-of-26 (46.2%) from the floor and just 2-of-12 (16.7%) from behind the arc.
• Holland scored 16 points in the half, and McDonald added eight.

 
 
GAME NOTES

• NKU shot 30-of-55 (54.5%) from the floor and 11-of-19 (57.9%) on three-point attempts during the game.
• The Norse held Cleveland State to 21-of-51 (41.2%) shooting on field goals and just 6-of-22 (27.3%) on three-point field goals.
• McDonald's career-high seven assists top his previous mark of five, which he set on two separate occasions. Both times were also against Cleveland State.
• This marks the second-straight game where Sharpe made four buckets from 3-point land.
• Faulkner has now reached double figures in two-straight games and three of the last four.
• NKU finished with a 38-20 rebounding advantage and a 28-15 bench points advantage.
• The Norse had 20 assists on 30 made field goals.

 
 
NEXT UP

• NKU hosts Milwaukee on Thursday, Feb. 8. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at BB&T Arena, and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.