Men’s basketball looked to bounce back after their triple overtime loss to Robert Morris as they took on Purdue Fort Wayne for their first matchup of 2025.
The game got off to a sloppy start, with a combined three turnovers in the first minute of play until Trey Robinson hit back-to-back threes to get the Norse started on offense.
The Norse were able to hold the Mastodons off the board for nearly four minutes until Purdue Fort Wayne’s Maximus Nelson knocked down the Mastodon’s first basket of the day with a three.
Norse led 8-3 at the first media timeout.
Josh Dilling entered the game for the Norse after the timeout and was able to draw the foul on a layup and made it a three-point play.
The Mastodons then went on a 9-0 run to take the 15-11 lead over the Norse as all 15 points came from beyond the arc. LJ Wells then broke the over three-minute scoring drought for the Norse with a dunk after a loose ball.
NKU’s Hubertas Pivorius made his first three, PFW’s Rasheed Bello and Robinson traded threes as the Norse were able to stay within one point.
Coming into the game, the Mastodons were ranked first in the Horizon League and 43rd in the nation in forced turnovers. It showed today as the Norse committed three turnovers in one minute for a total of 10 turnovers in the first half.
A 16-5 run for the Mastodons would give them their first double digit lead of the day as they led 36-24 with a little over a minute left to play in the half.
Dilling knocked down a three to get the Norse within a single digit deficit. Robinson then hit his fourth three of the game to make it a 36-30 game with Purdue Fort Wayne leading at the half.
The second half began with Robinson drawing a foul on a shot, and he went to the free throw line only able to convert one of the two attempts. The Mastodons then went on a 11-1 run to gain their largest lead of the day as they forced NKU to call a timeout as the Norse now trailed 47-32.
Sam Vinson broke the four-minute scoring drought for the Norse with a three, followed by another three from Pivorius to cut the deficit down to single digits as they trailed 47-38
The Norse struggled to defend PFW from beyond the arc as they allowed Jalen Jackson and Nelson to both drain threes as the Mastodons extended their lead to 55-42.
The Norse offense came together as they went on a 15-0 run, with Pivorius knocking down his fourth three of the night, a career high, as they took the 57-55 lead at the final media timeout.
PFW’s Quinton Morton-Robertson ended the Norse’s run with a layup, followed by another shot from Jackson to regain the two-point lead over the Norse.
Robinson hit his career high fifth three of the day to put the Norse back ahead 60-59.
Robinson made a layup followed by Nelson draining another three to tie the game 62-62.
With one second left, Robinson put up a shot that got stuck between the rim and the backboard and the game headed to overtime.
Robinson got overtime started with a layup, Vinson followed with a layup of his own as the Norse took the four-point lead.
A 6-0 run for PFW gave the Mastodons a two-point lead with two minutes left.
Bello fouled Vinson to send him to the charity line. He made one of two free throws as the Norse trailed by one. With 11 seconds left, NKU’s Keeyan Itejere hit a jumper as the Norse now led by one
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The Mastodons had time to throw up one more shot, but Bello’s three-pointer missed as Dilling grabbed the rebound to secure the 69-68 victory for the Norse.
The Norse climbed to 8-7 overall and 3-1 in conference play.
Trey Robinson led all scorers with 26 points, shooting 5-10 from three.
The Norse will host Green Bay Saturday. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.