NKU started a four-game homestand Wednesday as they welcomed the Patriots of the University of the Cumberlands. 

Excitement filled the air as the pre-game festivities celebrated Trey Robinson and Sam Vinson for surpassing 1,000 career points at NKU. Head Coach Darrin Horn was also recognized, as he got his 100th career coaching win as the leader of the Norse against IU Indy on Saturday.

The ceremony would be all we would see from Vinson for the night, as Horn decided to sit him out for the game as a matter of precautionary measures due to the four games the Norse have in 11 upcoming nights. However, that would not hamper the NKU offense.

The scoring would start quickly as the Norse would jump out to a 5-0 lead immediately with every point coming from Randall Pettus II in his second straight start. 

The Patriots got their scoring started after a pair of layups from Anthony Johnson and a DJ Jones three pointer resulted in a 12-9 lead for the Norse at the first media timeout. 

The next stretch would be all Norse as Robinson scored, along with Pettus II and Paulius Rapolis in the paint. 

The only points for the Patriots in the stretch would be a three pointer from Ryan Davidson as NKU led 18-13 with 12 minutes left to go in the opening half.

The Patriots would then get the fireworks going as they were able to take their first lead of the game behind an and-one opportunity for Tanner Walton, followed by a layup from Tajahri Cave and a tenacious offensive rebound and putback for the lead by Matthew Cromer.

NKU would then be able to finally get some separation as Robinson had eight straight points for the Norse, which began thanks to a reverberating block at the rim by Rapolis on a dunk attempt. The lead would sit at 35-28 as halftime neared. 

NKU would finish the half strong as more points poured in for Robinson, before Harry Morrice made his first three of the season for the Patriots to ensure the game stayed within single digits. NKU led 47-38 at the break. 

The second half was all Norse, as Keeyan Itejere and Josh Dilling would get the scoring started  finding space in the paint to convert easy points to balloon the lead to 15. After a Patriots timeout, they would find back-to-back buckets from Morrice.

That would be answered quickly by three consecutive makes from the Norse. This spark would be punctuated by a no-look pass from Dilling and a Robinson post spin and score to go up 20. 

NKU would never look back on their way to a 98-79 victory. 

Those 98 points were a season high for the Norse as a team, but that wasn’t the only season high of the night, as Dilling would go for 17 points and a season high 10 assists, his first collegiate double-double. Hubertas Pivorius would add a season high eight points on the night to bring a much needed offensive contribution in Vinson’s absence. 

Robinson also stamped himself as a Horizon League player of the year contender with his second game in the last three with more than 25 points.

The Norse will play game two of this four-game homestand on Sunday as Norfolk State comes to town. The game will tip-off at 1 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.