Brought to you by Rebel Mettle Brewery, proud sponsor of Norse Men's Basketball.


 
DETROIT, Mich. – Offensive issues plagued Northern Kentucky in a 60-52 loss to Detroit Mercy, Friday at Calihan Hall. NKU finished with a season-low 52 points, 18 below its season average, and trailed by 17 points in the second half.  

The Titans (11-13, 8-6 Horizon League) completed a season sweep of NKU and dealt the Norse (15-11, 11-6) a second defeat in their last 11 games.

STATS LEADERS

• Marques Warrick led NKU in scoring with 13 points behind 4-of-6 free-throw shooting.
• Hubie Pivorius scored all 12 of his points from 3-point range within a 3:22 span late in the game. The freshman had his first double-figure game since Dec. 18 and finished 4-for-5 beyond the arc.
• Sam Vinson and Adrian Nelson shared the team-high with eight rebounds each. The eight boards matched a career high for Vinson. Nelson's eight rebounds increased his career tally to 690 and vaulted him into sixth place on NKU's all-time rebounding list.

TURNING POINT

• Trevon Faulkner buried a 3-pointer that drew NKU within two points at the second half's 14:38 mark. Detroit Mercy erupted for a 20-5 run and maintained the lead until the final buzzer.

FIRST HALF SUMMARY

• Marques Warrick made his first 3-pointer in two games after going 0-for-5 from the perimeter at Green Bay. He gave the Norse its first lead, but NKU went cold and Detroit Mercy scored eight straight points for a 10-5 lead.
• The Norse were held scoreless for multiple stretches, starting with a four-minute drought. Although Marques Warrick got the Norse back on the board with two free throws, NKU's stretch between field goals extended another 1:43. NKU missed seven of its first nine field goal attempts (22.2%).
• Sam Vinson curbed the Titans' 10-2 run with a floater in the lane and ended the Norse's 5:43 field goal drought. NKU was never far out of striking distance despite its scoring woes and pulled within one on a Chris Brandon dunk with 10:14 remaining.
• NKU went 8:16 between field goals but finished the half on a 7-0 run. The teams were tied at 20 at the break.
• The Norse shot 28% to Detroit Mercy's 26.9%. The Titans were limited to 2-for-15 perimeter shooting (13.3%) while NKU went 2-for-10 (20%) from long range. Detroit Mercy outscored NKU 10-0 in points off turnovers.

SECOND HALF SUMMARY

• The Norse pulled within two points on a Trevon Faulkner 3-pointer. Antoine Davis quickly reeled off a triple of his own to increase his tally to 12 points.
• Detroit Mercy surged ahead by nine after an 8-1 spurt with 11:49 left, but the run wasn't over. The Titans' run ballooned to 20-5, permanently distancing the team from the Norse. Antoine Davis buried back-to-back 3-pointers for a 51-34 lead, Detroit Mercy's largest of the night.
• NKU battled back with a 12-2 tear to narrow its deficit to seven with 2:41 left. Bryson Langdon converted consecutive layups to cap that stretch.
• Norse freshman Hubie Pivorius made his four 3-pointers in short order and edged NKU within four with less than a minute to go.
• Antoine Davis hit a floater with 29 seconds left and the Titans, which scored 40 second-half points, held on. Davis led all scorers with 20 points and Noah Waterman added 18.

GAME NOTES

• NKU entered the game with wins in nine of its prior 10 games. The only loss in that stretch was Feb. 5 versus Detroit Mercy, a 74-68 outing at BB&T Arena.
• Adrian Nelson surpassed Tony Faehr for No. 6 on NKU's all-time rebounding list. Nelson has 688 career rebounds.
• The Norse shot just 39.2% from the field and 28% from 3-point range. Detroit Mercy scored 15 points off NKU's 13 turnovers.

UP NEXT
       Northern Kentucky plays its final regular-season road game at Oakland at 3 p.m. Sunday. The outing against the Golden Grizzlies concludes a five-game road swing.