The Northern Kentucky University men‘s basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the Horizon League tournament for the fourth straight year with a 77-59 win over Detroit Mercy in a quarterfinal game on Thursday at BB&T Arena.
Sophomore guard Marques Warrick scored a game-high 25 points for the Norse, who will take a 19-11 record into their semifinal game against Purdue Fort Wayne (21-10) on Monday at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis. Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m. with ESPN2 providing a live telecast.
NKU won 12 of its last 14 games in the regular season with both losses coming to Detroit Mercy (14-15). During that successful run, the Norse defeated Ft. Wayne, 59-49, at BB&T Arena.
In the tournament win over Detroit Mercy, Warrick scored 15 points in the first half that ended with NKU holding a 31-21 lead. The Norse went on a 14-2 run that pushed the lead to 55-37 with less than eight minutes left in the second half and they maintained a double-figure margin the rest of the way.
The Norse shot 49 percent (24 of 49) from the field and made 23 of 25 free throws. Mercy shot 35.7 percent (20 of 56) and went 12 of 14 at the line.
The other double-figure scorers for NKU were Trevon Faulkner with 13 points and Bryson Langdon with 10. Highlands graduate Sam Vinson had nine points, five assists, five rebounds and three steals.
In the quarterfinal round of the Horizon League women’s tournament, Cleveland State defeated NKU, 59-51, in Cleveland on Thursday.
The Norse fell behind, 18-6, in the first quarter and weren’t able to sustain a rally long enough to take the lead. They ended up shooting 31.3 percent (20 of 64) from the field compared to Cleveland State’s 39 percent (23 of 59).
The double-figures scorers for NKU (21-8) were Kennedy Igo with 12 points and Lindsey Duvall with 11 points. Grayson Rose finished with eight points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
Pairings for men’s and women’s games at Thomas More University in the first round of NAIA national playoffs were announced on Thursday.
The men’s match-ups on Friday, March 11, will be Thomas More vs. Grand View (Iowa) and Stillman (Ala.) vs. Union (Ky.). The women’s games will be Thomas More vs. Haskell (Kan.) and Grand View (Iowa) vs. Lyon (Ark.).
The semifinal winners will play Saturday, March 12, to determine berths in the NAIA national tournaments scheduled for March 17-22 in Sioux City, Iowa, for the women and Kansas City, Mo., for the men.
In the final NAIA coaches polls, the Thomas More women (26-4) were ranked No. 3 and the men (27-4) were ranked No. 5. Both teams made it to the Mid-South Conference tournament finals with the women winning the championship trophy.