DAYTON, Ohio — Northern Kentucky men's basketball traveled to Wright State on Friday night, as the Norse and Raiders renewed their rivalry for the second time this season inside the Nutter Center.
After falling to WSU in January, it was NKU that came out on top in this edition of the Battle of I-75 in a back-and-forth thriller.
Five Norse scored in double figures, with NKU holding Wright State off the scoreboard for the final 4:03 on the way to a massive victory to put the Norse a game clear of the No. 8 seed in the Horizon League.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Northern Kentucky - 80, Wright State - 76
LOCATION: Nutter Center (Dayton, OH)
RECORDS: Northern Kentucky: 13-15 (8-9 Horizon) | Wright State: 13-16 (7-11 Horizon)
BOX SCORE BREAKDOWN
- Dan Gherezgher led five Norse in double figures, dropping 17 points with a pair of rebounds and three assists. Gherezgher shot 3-5 from downtown in the victory.
- Josh Dilling notched 16 points, grabbing five boards and dishing out three assists of his own. Dilling hit a pair of threes and shot 5-8 from the floor.
- Sam Vinson continued his all-around great play with a highly efficient 14 point, six rebound and four assist night. Vinson shot 6-7 from the floor, and came up with three huge offensive rebounds for the Norse.
- Trey Robinson picked up 12 points, adding four boards and three steals with one blocked shot.
- Keeyan Itejere blocked a pair of shots and grabbed five boards to go along with his 10 points.
- NKU shot 53.6% from the field and 46.7% from beyond the arc in the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- NKU erupted offensively in the first 20 minutes, shooting 66.7% from the field (20-30 FG) as the Norse took a 46-41 lead into the halftime break.
- Offensive struggles allowed Wright State to go up by as many as nine, but the Norse continued to battle, as an and-one from Sam Vinson cut the Raider lead to two at the last media timeout with 4:24 to go.
- Wright State went up four at the 4:03 mark, but Dan Gherezgher went on a 5-0 run by himself with a layup and go-ahead triple with just under two minutes to play. Josh Dilling hit a free throw to put NKU up two, and a massive block by Keeyan Itejere followed by two more free throws from Dilling gave NKU a much needed win.
UP NEXT
- NKU plays its penultimate home game of the season on Sunday, as the Norse play host to IU Indy at Truist Arena.
FOLLOW NKU NORSE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Get in the game and follow Northern Kentucky's NCAA Division I college team through @NKUNorseMBB on Twitter, @nkunorsembb on Instagram, nkunorsembb on Facebook and subscribe to the NKU Norse Youtube channel.
