HIGHLAND Heights, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky men's basketball team fell to Wright State, 64-62, on Friday night at BB&T Arena, resulting in a second-place finish in the Horizon League. The loss moves NKU to 21-9 on the year and 13-5 in league competition. Wright State is now 25-6 and 15-3 in league play.
 
The Norse have earned the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Horizon League Championship and a double bye straight to the semifinals. The tournament is held at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 9-10.

STATS LEADERS

• Jalen Tate had 24 points on the night to lead NKU on 8-of-15 (53 percent) shooting and fell just short of a double-double with nine rebounds.
• Dantez Walton also scored in double figures, racking up 15 points. He also snagged nine rebounds of his own.
• Trevon Faulkner posted nine points to the scoreboard to go along with six rebounds.
• Silas Adheke chipped in seven rebounds to the Norse cause.

FIRST HALF SUMMARY

• The Norse started off slow, surviving off a basket from Walton. However, NKU began making headway with layups from Faulkner, Walton and Tate, taking the lead, 8-7, with 16:35 remaining in the half.
• Following a three-pointer by Tyler Sharpe, Wright State went on a 9-0 run, which Sharpe put an end to with another shot from behind the arc with 12:13 left on the clock.
• At the 2:41 mark, Sharpe slipped a pass to Adrian Nelson in the post, who then sank an easy basket, putting a stop to a Wright State, six-point mini-run.
• Both teams struggled from three-point range, making just two each in the half. In spite of this, the Norse bench came in strong, scoring 13 points compared to the Raiders' four.
• Wright State went on a 10-4 run to conclude the half sending the Norse into halftime trailing 36-29. Tate led the Norse with 11 points, shooting 5-of-8 (62.5 percent).

SECOND HALF SUMMARY

• Following two baskets from the Raiders, resulting in their largest lead of the game at 11, Walton opened up scoring for the Norse after gathering his own rebound and putting it back up in the key.
• At the 14:30 mark, Walton fought off multiple defenders in the lane and sank a tough basket and drawing a foul.
• Running behind, 49-39, The Norse had not scored in the flow of play in over five and half minutes until Walton drilled a shot from behind the arc with 8:52 left.
• Two subsequent layups from Tate brought the Norse within four points of the Raiders. Walton then followed with a layup of his own, making it a one possession game, bringing all of BB&T Arena to their feet.   
• Faulkner, Tate and Walton all sank crucial free throws in the last four minutes of play.
• In the final minute, Wright State missed six free throws, keeping the game in reach for the Norse.
• Faulkner made a triple with 13 seconds remaining, making it a two-point game. After two free throws for the Raiders, Faulkner made a layup while also being fouled. Faulkner then attempted to miss his free throw and put it back up to tie the game, but was stopped by a lane violation.
• The Norse outscored the Raiders 33-28 in the second half, limiting the Raiders to just 31 percent (9-of-29) shooting. WSU also made just 8-of-19 free throws in the stanza.

GAME NOTES

• In a pregame ceremony, Northern Kentucky honored its three seniors, Walton, Sharpe and Karl harris.
• Tonight's contest is the fifth occasion where the Norse committed single-digit turnovers with just eight on the night.
• The NKU bench scored 28 points compared to Wright State's six.
• Tata has averaged more than 20 points over the last six games. Also, in the last six games, Tate shot an effective 44-of-80 (55 percent) from the floor, just missing the mark tonight with an 8-of-15 (53 percent) performance.
• Since returning from injury, Walton has scored in double figures in 5-of-8 of his appearances.
• Tonight's attendance reached the highest it has all season long at 6,776, which is just 16 shy of the regular-season record set on Feb. 9, 2019 against Oakland (6,792).

UP NEXT
The Norse will take a nine-day hiatus and return to action on March 9 in the Horizon League semifinals at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Their opponent will not be determined until the completion of the quarterfinals on March 5. NKU squares off against the highest remaining seed at 9:30 p.m.