Four minutes left in the game, the Norse are up by six on Eastern Kentucky, NKU is bringing up the ball. The ball doesn’t stick, moving around the arc as the ball finds Donovan Oday.
Oday shoots the ball, “Clank,” hitting off the back iron. LJ Wells jumps up, grabbing the ball off the rim. Wells kicks the ball back out on the arc, getting it into the hands of Kael Robinson.
Robinson hesitates, surveying the floor, then quickly pulls the trigger; the ball flies through the air. “Swoosh,” the ball goes through the net, putting the score at 71-62.
This three-point shot put EKU away, as they were not able to mount a comeback. Northern Kentucky got its first Division I win at home this season, 82-71.
NKU struggled in the first half on both ends of the floor, especially on defense, where they couldn’t contain the Colonels. EKU didn’t back down, shooting 48% from the field and 43% from three as they led into halftime 35-33.
The Norse came alive in the second half, grabbing a five-point lead early. They battled with EKU until the four-minute mark, where Robinson made that three, and NKU ran away with the game.
Oday and Dan Gherezgher put on a show in front of the home crowd, as they combined for 37 points (Gherezgher 19 and Oday 18). Gherezgher also had four rebounds and four assists on the night, while Oday also had four rebounds.
EKU guard Turner Buttry gave the Norse problems all night. In the first half alone, he had three made three-pointers, hitting tough shot after tough shot. He finished with a game-high 20 points.
Robinson has kept up his great play this season, posting 17 points, four rebounds and a steal. He had many big-time plays to help the Norse get over the hump that was EKU.
After only scoring two points in the first half, Wells came alive in the second half, going off for 12 points. He finished with a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds, while having three steals. Wells also had a game-sealing dunk with 19 seconds left to put the nail in the coffin.
Head Coach Darrin Horn gave credit to Eastern Kentucky’s fight and their coach, A.W. Hamilton.
“I have so much respect for A.W. We’ve known each other a long time. Kind of, come from the same cloth, Kentucky boys, and just love the game and been about playing hard and competing at a high level. I thought his team really reflected that tonight,” Horn said. “They’re down several guys and just came in here and just competed their tails off. And so I hope the Colonel faithful will understand how fortunate they are to have a guy like A.W. Hamilton at the helm. That was a tremendous effort by his guys on the road, on a quick turnaround.”