Youngstown, Ohio – The Northern Kentucky men's basketball team closed out its northeast Ohio road trip with an 82-74 win over Youngstown State on Saturday afternoon. NKU moves to 16-4 on the year and 6-1 in the Horizon League. Youngstown State falls to 6-15 and 2-6 in league play.
 
STATS LEADERS

• Drew McDonald led the Norse with 23 points and seven rebounds. He made 8-of-10 field goal attempts and 5-of-6 at the charity stripe.
• Tyler Sharpe added 13 points, five rebounds, and two assists.
• Jalen Tate also scored 13 points, and he chipped in two assists and two rebounds.
• Zaynah Robinson finished with nine points and two rebounds.

 
TURNING POINT

• NKU outscored Youngstown State 13-4 over a period of 3:28 in the second half to take a 73-61 lead with 5:04 to play. Robinson had two three-pointers in the run, Sharpe added a trey and McDonald recorded four points. The Penguins never got closer than eight points down the stretch.

 
FIRST HALF SUMMARY

• With the score tied 19-19, the Norse went on an 8-0 run to take a 27-19 lead with 7:02 to play.
• NKU took a 38-34 lead into halftime.
• The first half featured six ties and six lead changes.
• Tate led the Norse with 11 points in the half, and Sharpe added 10.
• NKU had a 23-14 advantage in rebounds, including an 11-3 advantage in offensive boards.
• The Norse outscored the Penguins 22-10 in the paint.
• NKU went 15-of-34 (44.1 percent) from the floor and held Youngstown State to 11-of-28 (39.3 percent) shooting.

 
SECOND HALF SUMMARY

• Youngstown State took a 55-54 lead with 11:36 to play. The Norse proceeded to go on a 6-0 run to regain a 60-55 advantage.
• A few minutes later, NKU was ahead 62-57 when Sharpe hit a three-pointer out of a timeout with one second left on the shot clock to extend the lead to eight points.
• Robinson's three-pointer with 5:04 left gave the Norse a 12-point lead, and Youngstown State never got closer than eight points down the stretch.
• NKU went on to win by a final score of 82-74.
• The Norse shot well in the second half, going 14-of-23 (60.9 percent) from the floor.
• Youngstown State went 13-of-25 (52.0 percent) on field goals in the half, but just 3-of-11 (27.3 percent) on three-pointers.

 
GAME NOTES

• NKU finished the game shooting 29-of-57 (50.9 percent), while Youngstown State went 24-of-53 (45.3%) on field goals.
• The Norse had a 36-24 rebounding advantage and outscored the Penguins 40-28 in the paint.
• McDonald has scored 20 or more points in 10 games this season.
• NKU has won four-straight games and eight out of the last nine.
• Adrian Nelson provided a spark off the bench, registering four points and six boards.

 
NEXT UP

• The Norse host Green Bay on Thursday, Jan. 27. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at BB&T Arena, and the game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Ohio.