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

 
ROCHESTER, Mich. – Northern Kentucky overcame a 13-point deficit to defeat Oakland 71-66 Sunday afternoon and complete a regular season sweep of the Golden Grizzlies. The Norse scored 34 points off Oakland's 23 turnovers.

NKU (16-11, 12-6 Horizon League) finished its five-game road swing with a 4-1 record and dealt the Golden Grizzlies (18-10, 11-6) a second straight home loss.

STATS LEADERS

• Marques Warrick scored 27 points on 10-for-21 shooting and made all four of his free throws. He added four assists, three steals and two rebounds.
• Adrian Nelson scored 10 points with a team-best nine rebounds.
• Hubertas Pivorius had a second straight game of meaningful perimeter shooting. He went 3-for-5 from long range for nine points in less than 12 minutes.

TURNING POINT

• Oakland led 56-55 with 5:48 to play but Hubie Pivorius buried a 3-pointer to start a 10-0 Norse run and NKU rebuffed the Golden Grizzlies' comeback attempts thereafter.

FIRST HALF SUMMARY

• Oakland took the early lead, benefited from three Micah Parrish free-throws after he was fouled attempting a triple, and held NKU to 1-for-8 shooting. Trevon Faulkner knotted the score at 7 with a 3-pointer.
• Defense set the tone for both teams in the first eight minutes, as NKU went 3-for-12 (25%) including 1-for-6 (16.7%) from three. Oakland started 3-for-11 (27.3%) and missed its first three 3-point attempts before finding a stride. The Golden Grizzlies surged ahead by 10 and upped their scoring percentage to 46.7, thanks in part to three treys.
• Jamal Cain's 3-pointer via a Jalen Moore assist gave the Golden Grizzlies a 13-point edge. The home team vaulted ahead 31-18 with 6:02 left in the frame.
• NKU seized opportunities to convert Oakland's turnovers to points and scored 10 straight. Marques Warrick contributed seven points in that stretch and Bryson Langdon added a 3-pointer. Fourteen of NKU's first 30 points came off Oakland's nine turnovers.
• Marques Warrick led NKU with 11 first-half points. Jamal Cain (13 points) and Micah Parrish (13 points) paced Oakland.

 
SECOND HALF SUMMARY

• Trevon Faulkner procured two steals and Sam Vinson added another less than two minutes into the half. Marques Warrick scored six straight points off the turnovers to bring NKU within two.
• Enter Hubie Pivorius, whose back-to-back 3-pointers gave NKU its first lead of the day, 50-48, with 11:03 remaining. 
• NKU denied Oakland a field goal for five-plus minutes. Oakland led for the last time with 5:48 to play but it was short-lived, as NKU began mounting a 10-0 run.
• Micah Parrish nabbed a steal and made a 3-pointer for the Golden Grizzlies, extending a 7-0 spurt and making it a two-point affair with 1:10 to go. Marques Warrick's layup added a scoring cushion for the Norse.
• Bryson Langdon made two free throws with 13.8 seconds left. Although Jalen Moore hit a 3-pointer to narrow NKU's lead to 69-66 with 7.9 seconds remaining, Trevon Faulkner left no doubt with two free throws down the stretch.

GAME NOTES

• NKU, which defeated Oakland 87-78 in overtime in Game One at BB&T Arena Feb. 4, held the Golden Grizzlies to just 26 second-half points.
• Marques Warrick finished in double figures for a 10^th straight game and 21st this season. He has averaged 17.6 points in the last 10 outings.
• NKU ranked fifth in the Horizon League standings entering the game ascended to third afterward.

UP NEXT
Northern Kentucky returns to BB&T for its final two regular-season home games. The Norse host Robert Morris on Thursday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. and Youngstown State on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.