The Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball remains undefeated on the road in Horizon League play, defeating Cleveland State 78-61.

The Norse are now 10-2 in conference play and are tied for first place with Wright State, who defeated Youngstown State on Saturday. The Vikings fall to 3-9 in the Horizon League and 6-19 overall.

Drew McDonald was on his game again on Saturday, scoring 19 points while grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out a career high seven assists. Lavone Holland II was the high scorer for NKU, scoring 21 points while giving out three assists.

Both Mason Faulkner and Tyler Sharpe excelled off the bench again for NKU, with Faulkner scoring 14 points while Sharpe was 4-6 from three with 12 points.

Kenny Carpenter and Tyler Appleby both scored 13 points for Cleveland State while Kasheem Thomas scored 11 points off the bench.

NKU shot 54 percent from the field and just over 57 percent from three while Cleveland State shot just over 41 percent and only 27.3 percent from three. The Norse dominated the boards, chasing down 38 rebounds while Cleveland State managed to get just 20.

It was all Norse from the start, who built a 14 point lead with just under nine minutes in the first half after a Faulkner three. The lead ballooned to as many as 22 after a McDonald layup with four and a half minutes remaining in the first half. NKU carried a 40-26 lead into halftime.

The Norse shot 60 percent in the first half while the Vikings shot just 36 percent from the field but 40 percent from three.

Cleveland State would cut the lead to 11 with 12:52 left, but that is as close to the lead as the Vikings would get. The Vikings shot just over 46 percent from the field but an abysmal 16 percent from three in the second half. The Norse shot 50 percent in the second half and over 44 percent from three.

The Norse will return to BB&T Arena for homecoming week on Thursday to face Milwaukee at 7:30 p.m. before facing Green Bay on Saturday at 7 p.m..