By Don Owen
NKyTribune reporter
Unlike the last time these two teams squared off, overtime heroics were not needed Thursday night as Northern Kentucky University gutted out a 65-62 victory over Northern Illinois at BB&T Arena.
But the Norse certainly benefitted from a plethora of clutch plays in the closing minutes to knock off the visiting Huskies for the second time this season.
It marked the second straight double-double for McDonald, who made eight free throws in 10 attempts. The Newport Central Catholic product now has six double-doubles this season, and Thursday’s performance came against an extremely physical team.
“We played (Northern Illinois) earlier this season and knew they really liked to pound the ball into the post, and they are very physical,” said McDonald, who scored 14 points in the second half to rally NKU. “It was like a conference game with the physical play.”
Northern Illinois (6-5) owned a 31-25 halftime lead after holding NKU to just 29.4 percent shooting from the field. The Norse also shot 3-for-17 from 3-point range during the opening 20 minutes.
NKU began the second half with a 9-2 run to take a 34-33 lead, and the game become a back-and-forth contest. The Norse eventually forged ahead by a nine points (58-49) on a jumper by freshman guard Trevon Faulkner with 3:19 remaining. NKU head coach John Brannen said Faulkner’s performance in other areas also ignited the win.
“I thought Trevon provided a specific spark and not just defensively,” Brannen said. “I thought some of our veteran guys were feeling sorry for themselves in the second half because shots weren’t going in. Trevon came in and got four straight offensive rebounds. Two loose balls, knocked the ball off a guy’s foot.
“Emotionally, we call it ‘bowing up,’ and he brought the team’s emotion to where it needed to be with those plays. Had he not done that, I’m not sure where this team ends up. Trevon was a large part of this win.”
Faulkner also helped defend Northern Illinois leading scorer Eugene German, who netted 18 points — three below his average. German, who was just 7-for-20 from the field on Thursday night, declared for the NBA Draft last March. He later withdrew his name to return to Northern Illinois for this season.
Northern Illinois staged a furious rally in the final three minutes and cut NKU’s lead to 62-61 on a 3-pointer by Dante Thorpe with 42.6 seconds left on the clock. Jalen Tate responded with a layup with 17 seconds remaining to extend the NKU advantage to 64-61.
German hit one of two free throws with 5.6 seconds left to make it a 64-62 score, and Tyler Sharpe converted one of two charity tosses with 4.7 seconds remaining to give the Norse a 65-62 edge. McDonald fouled Levi Bradley in the backcourt to prevent a potential game-tying 3-point attempt, but Bradley missed the first free throw and Northern Illinois was called for a lane violation on his second attempt to seal the win for NKU.
Sharpe and Tate each scored 14 points for NKU, while teammate Dantez Walton netted 11 points. The Norse pulled out the win despite shooting just 30.6 percent from the field and making only 58.3 percent of their free throws.
“Even when we don’t shoot the ball well, we have an opportunity to win with our defense,” Brannen said. “I like winning a game before Christmas. It’s a big win for us against a very good Northern Illinois team.”
Thorpe added 17 points for Northern Illinois, which shot 45.6 percent from the field. The Huskies were 6-for-22 from 3-point range and just 4-for-9 from the foul line.
A key to the win centered around the return of Tate, who had missed the previous two games with a groin injury. In addition to his 14 points, Tate also grabbed six rebounds.
NKU is now 8-0 at BB&T Arena this season and is 31-4 at home since the start of the 2016-17 campaign. The Norse have won 16 consecutive home games against non-conference opponents, with the last defeat being an 82-74 loss to North Carolina Central on Nov. 26, 2016.
NKU begins Horizon League play on Dec. 28 with a 7 p.m. home game against IUPUI.
Contact Don Owen at don@nkytrib.com and follow him on Twitter at @dontribunesport