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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Adrian Nelson converted a game-winning layup via Sam Vinson's underneath out-of-bounds pass with 1.4 seconds left, giving Northern Kentucky University a 68-67 road victory over Youngstown State in a Thursday thriller at the Beeghly Center.
 
The Norse (6-8, 2-3 Horizon League), fresh from a 12-day layoff from games due to two cancellations and a postponement, won their first road game this season. The Penguins (9-8, 3-4) lost a third straight game.
 
STATS LEADERS

• Adrian Nelson, playing his first game since the Dec. 22 outing at Indiana due to illness and the team's three missed games, finished with 10 points and a team-best 11 rebounds.
• Marques Warrick led all scorers with 20 points behind by 4-for-8 perimeter shooting. He scored 15 points in the second half.
• Trevon Faulkner and Sam Vinson each scored 13 points. Vinson added a career-high eight rebounds.

TURNING POINT

• Tevin Olison delivered a 3-pointer and a layup in short order to give Youngstown State a 67-66 lead with 8.7 seconds to play. Sam Vinson inbounded the ball under the Norse basket to an open Adrian Nelson, who converted the layup for the 68-67 edge that became the winning margin soon after. 

FIRST HALF SUMMARY

• Marques Warrick started the game with a 3-pointer. The sophomore guard has delivered a trey in seven straight games and 11 of the Norse's 14 outings thus far.
• NKU missed its seven ensuing field goal attempts and Youngstown scored seven straight points for a 7-3 lead.
• Trevon Faulkner ended NKU's 6:28 scoring drought with a basket and Adrian Nelson followed suit to ensure a 7-all tie with 11:46 left in the first half. The Penguins answered with another 7-0 run to surge ahead 14-7 with 8:53 to go.
• The Penguins led by as many as nine points after Dwayne Cohill's layup with 3:47 left. But, propelled by Trevon Faulkner (11 first-half points), the Norse outscored Youngstown State 10-5 the rest of the way to trim the deficit to 28-24 at the break.
• Both teams shot 31% in the first half.

SECOND HALF SUMMARY

• Sam Vinson converted his first field goal of the night, a 3-pointer, at the 17:31 mark of the second half. It signaled his eighth straight game with a trey, and it brought NKU within one point (30-29).
• Marques Warrick scored 10 points in the first eight minutes of the second half, bolstered by two 3-pointers. Warrick's triple with 12:04 remaining gave the Norse a 43-42 lead, their first edge since early in the game.
• Tevin Olison's 3-pointer inched the Penguins within one point, 66-65, with 37 seconds to play.  The Norse missed two free throws with 18.6 seconds left.  Olison's layup with 8.7 seconds left extended an 8-1 run and gave the Penguins a one-point lead.
• Sam Vinson found Adrian Nelson on an out-of-bounds play under NKU's basket with 1.4 seconds left. Nelson made a layup for the lead and the win.

GAME NOTES

• NKU trailed 28-24 at halftime but outscored the Penguins after the break 44-39.
• The Norse out-rebounded Youngstown State 41-34 and scored 14 second-chance points. Adrian Nelson (11 rebounds), Sam Vinson (eight) and Chris Brandon (seven) led the way on the glass.
• The Norse snapped an 0-5 start on the road.

 
UP NEXT
NKU continues its four-game road swing at Robert Morris at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Norse play at UIC Jan. 20 and at IUPUI Jan. 22.