HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky men's basketball team hosted a double-overtime barnburner against Texas Southern on Saturday night, falling, 98-96, at BB&T Arena. With the loss, NKU dips to 4-2 on the season. TSU moves to 1-4.

STAT LEADERS

• Dantez Walton piled on a career-high 33 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the field (52 percent) to add to a 6-of-11 clip from beyond the arc (54.5 percent). He also had 10 rebounds to complete a double-double effort. The senior forward converted nine of his last 10 field-goal attempts in the game.
• Trevon Faulkner made it a one-two punch after collecting 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting (56 percent). The sophomore was also exemplary from three-point range, going 3-of-6 (50 percent).
• Tyler Sharpe had 14 points on the night as the only other Norse in double figures.
• Silas Adheke had six offensive and defensive boards for a total of 12, marking the second time in the last three games the redshirt-junior has hauled in a dozen boards.
• Bryant Mocaby had a noteworthy pair of three-pointers in overtime to keep NKU in the thick of things.  

FIRST HALF SUMMARY

• The game started relatively even as Texas Southern held an 11-10 lead five minutes in. Faulkner had a pair of triples in the early going and Walton had a monster dunk at the 16:40 mark.
• Harris joined in on the dunking fun after Walton fed a pass into the post with 12:52 to go.
• Offensive output for both teams slowed down over the next four minutes as each side scored just four points apiece, bringing the total to 18-17 Texas Southern.
• The half finished in neck-and-neck fashion with the Tigers leading the Norse, 32-31. Although Texas Southern shot 13-of-25 (52 percent) from the field, NKU did a great job at limiting the Tigers' opportunities, forcing 10 turnovers. Faulkner lead the Norse with nine points in the box score.

SECOND HALF SUMMARY

• Through four minutes after the break, the scoring margin stayed within a possession. Langdon had a solid start to the second half, sinking a three-pointer and a jumper in back-to-back possessions.
• The Tigers started to inch away as the half progressed. TSU took a 44-38 lead before made shots by Faulkner and Adheke kept the Norse in striking distance. Heading into the Under-12 media timeout, the Norse had the deficit trimmed to 49-47.
• From there, it was nothing short of a Faulkner and Walton show. With NKU trailing, 51-50, the duo poured on the heat and went on to score a combined 31 points in over 12 minutes of play.
• The duo were the only two Norse in that span to score and pushed NKU to a 73-67 lead with 1:03 left in the game.
• The streak of the two shooters dominating the play-by-play finally ended with a Tyler Sharpe free throw with 39 seconds left.
• NKU held a 77-74 lead off a pair of Sharpe freebies from the line with 20 seconds. A three-pointer by Texas Southern would then knot things up and send the game into overtime.

FIRST OVERTIME SUMMARY

• Both teams traded blocking fouls and made free-throws to start off overtime to keep it knotted at 79 with 3:55 left.
• After that, NKU rattled off three-straight three-pointers. Bryant Mocaby drilled one with 3:21 left and Walton sank another pair—with the latter of his two shots becoming a four-point play.
• Although the Norse led, 89-83, following the four-point play, the Tigers fought back and converted game-tying free throws to push the game to another overtime.
   

SECOND OVERTIME SUMMARY

• After trailing, 93-91, Mocaby shot another crucial three to give the Norse the lead.
• A foul by Harris sent the Tigers back to the charity stripe, causing the game to be tied up at 93 apiece.
• Following another score by Texas Southern, Harris was on the other side of things and drew a foul with 43 seconds left in the contest. He made one of his two free throw attempts to make it 95-94 Tigers.
• With 16 seconds left, Sharpe squeezed into the post for a layup to tie things up, yet again, at 96.
• Unfortunately for the Norse, the Tigers sealed the game with six seconds to go with a layup by Tyrik Armstrong.

GAME NOTES

• In back-to-back home games, the Norse have had two players reach the 20-point mark. Walton and Sharpe scored 24 and 23, respectively, against Coppin State.
• This is the second-straight home game that Walton has eclipsed his career-high. He had 24 against Coppin State on November 17. His 10 rebounds on the night propelled him to his second career double-double, with the former being a 15-point, 14-rebound effort to propel NKU to the 2019 Horizon League Championship with a win over Wright State.
• In the last three games, Walton is averaging 25 points and 8.3 rebounds.
• Faulkner surpasses a previous career-high of 20 points with tonight's effort. He had 20 in a March 6 matchup with Detroit Mercy last season.
• Walton's 33 points is the first time an NKU player scored 30 or more since Jalen Tate had 30 on the nose in a March 2 game against Green Bay

UP NEXT
NKU plays Midway on Monday night at 7:00 p.m. in BB&T Arena. The game will air on ESPN3 and can also be heard on FOX Sports 1360.