A Heavyweight Fight Slips Late as Oakland Tops NKU 82–77
Northern Kentucky entered the night with its home floor still unblemished, riding an unbeaten record at Truist Arena and the confidence that comes with it. That streak was put to the test against an Oakland team comfortable playing in fast and physical games. What followed was exactly that: a back-and-forth Horizon League battle that stayed within a possession late before NKU’s first home loss of the year came in an 82–77 setback.
First Half
Fast Pace Early, Elliott Sparks the Offense
The game opened at these teams' preferred speed, with both teams pushing tempo and testing passing lanes right away. Ethan Elliott set the tone for NKU early, attacking off the bounce on the second possession and finishing through contact for an and-one that felt like his most decisive drive of the season. Oakland hit an early three, but neither side could separate, and the game was knotted 7–7 at the first media timeout. Oakland gambled aggressively in the lanes, but early on it did not produce much beyond pace, as NKU was still able to initiate offense and find the paint.
Wells Establishes Himself Inside as Oakland Speeds NKU Up
As the half settled, Oakland’s pressure began to bother NKU. A few sloppy turnovers turned into runouts the other way, including a sequence where Donovan Oday buried a corner three but NKU failed to get back, giving up an immediate dunk in transition. Through that stretch, LJ Wells became the stabilizer. NKU leaned into deliberate halfcourt possessions, and Wells consistently delivered on the block and on second chances. He scored 12 of NKU’s first 22 points and helped fuel a 6–0 Norse run entirely in the paint, keeping the game within reach despite Oakland’s energy.
Oakland’s Interior Counters and Free Throw Misses Keep It Tight
Oakland answered by pounding the ball inside, with their frontcourt doing most of the damage around the rim. Dan Gherezgher struggled to find his shot, and Kael Robinson had a tough stretch with turnovers that Oakland converted into transition points. Still, Oakland left points on the table at the line. After briefly pushing the lead to six, missed free throws opened the door for NKU to surge back. Robinson finished a tough drive to give NKU a 31–30 edge, and Gherezgher finally broke through with a transition three to end his scoring drought.
Chaos Before the Break
The final minutes of the half were messy on both sides. NKU teams missed two front ends of the bonus, from Wells and Tae Dozier, before Brody Robinson finally connected from deep for Oakland. Dozier picked up his third foul before halftime, limiting his aggression, and the half closed with a flurry of baskets. Oakland took a 41–38 lead into the locker room, despite the game feeling very much up for grabs. In the postgame interview with Jim Kelch and Rick Broering, Coach Horn talked about Tae Dozier's impact and foul trouble:
“Tae Dozier was huge, and him being out hurt us in the second half with the fouls. And the fouls were lack of discipline, right?”
Second Half
Second-Chance Scramble and Elliott’s Response
Oakland came out attacking the glass to open the second half, grabbing multiple offensive rebounds. Those extra possessions did not immediately turn into points, but they tilted momentum. Elliott had a lapse defensively, losing sight of his man and surrendering a three, then quickly answered with a three of his own on the other end. Even so, nearly every 50–50 ball seemed to bounce Oakland’s way in the opening minutes, and NKU turnovers allowed the Golden Grizzlies to maintain a small cushion.
Paint Pressure and Missed Opportunities
As the half wore on, Oakland began scoring almost at will in the paint. NKU had chances to close the gap, but turnovers and missed free throws stalled momentum, including a sequence where Oakland missed two at the line that kept the margin at five. Ryan Tolliver provided a lift with an offensive rebound and putback to cut the lead to two, but the game remained a grind. Gherezgher struggled offensively and was pulled for defensive subs all throughout the last couple minutes of the game.
Late-Game Trading Punches
The final stretch turned into a back-and-forth fight. Dozier tied the game at 66–66 in transition, and after Oakland briefly reclaimed the lead with a deep, behind the back three, Robinson answered immediately at the rim to make it 70–69 heading into the under-four media timeout. Dozier drilled a huge three with under two minutes to play to put NKU back in front, only for Oakland to respond yet again with a three of their own. Oday calmly knocked down two free throws to give NKU another slim edge, but Oakland answered inside and then benefited from a lane violation against NKU to regain possession up one.
BIG BUCKET FROM TAE pic.twitter.com/SeuXvcRFBt
— NKU Men's Basketball 🏀 (@NKUNorseMBB) December 18, 2025
Final Sequence Slips Away
Brody Robinson drew a foul and made free throws to push Oakland ahead by three. On the next trip, Dozier crashed the glass and tipped in a Gherezgher miss to cut it to one, staying down briefly after contact before remaining in the game. After another Oakland trip to the line extended the lead, NKU had the ball down three late, but the final possession unraveled, leading to a contested three instead of the inside-out look Horn wanted. “We had enough time… you don’t want to just jack a bad three,” he said. Oakland closed it out at the line, and a game that felt within NKU’s grasp slipped away in the final seconds. Brody Robinson finished the game off at the free throw line, closing out an 82–77 win.
Final Numbers and Takeaways
This game stayed close throughout, but it ultimately came down to how both teams operated in the paint and how the final minutes were managed. Both sides made the same number of threes, with NKU taking eight more attempts, but the difference showed up late. NKU struggled to defend without fouling in the possessions that mattered most. While several of Oakland’s free throws came from situational late-game fouls, the Grizzlies still finished with 29 attempts at the line and converted nearly double-digit free throws in each half.
Oakland’s reluctance to foul came with a cost as well. The Norse outscored the Grizzlies by 10 in the paint, and LJ Wells consistently got what he wanted once he reached the rim. It was another near double-double for Wells, paired with six assists and just one turnover. That kind of all-around production has become routine for him this season, and he was once again the steady presence NKU leaned on offensively.
Oakland countered with balance. Five players finished in double figures, and early on it was Isaac Garrett and Michael Houge doing the damage inside. Brody Robinson found his rhythm late in the first half and carried it into the second, providing timely scoring when Oakland needed it most. Defensively, the Grizzlies were clearly keyed in on Kael Robinson’s trail three. They forced him into a driver early, disrupting his normal rhythm, but Kael eventually adjusted and finished as the game’s leading scorer with 22 points.
On the other side, preseason Horizon League Player of the Year Tuburu Naivalurua never found a rhythm. NKU was locked in when he touched the ball, repeatedly swiping down as he spun or tried to create space. He finished with six points and three turnovers, his lowest scoring output against a Horizon League opponent since a two-point outing at Cleveland State on December 19, 2024.
Jim Kelch noted to me an interesting shooting trend. Through NKU’s first nine games, the Norse shot 37% from three. Over the last four, that number has dipped to 28%. It’s a small sample, but in a game like this, two open threes going down likely change the outcome. That becomes even more notable with College of Charleston coming to Truist Arena on Sunday. The Cougars rank near the bottom nationally in defending the three, allowing opponents to shoot 35.8%, setting up a potential bounce-back night from the perimeter.
Dan Gherezgher endured the toughest shooting night of his season and spent much of the closing stretch on the bench. He finished 1–14 from the field, missing 13 shots, which tied his collegiate career high for misses. He previously reached that mark twice at Michigan Tech, once as a freshman against Ferris State (7–20) and once as a sophomore on the road at Northern Michigan (4–17), though he scored at least 15 points in both of those games. Gherezgher is a volume shooter and nights like this are rare, but he wasn’t able to impact the game late in other ways, which led to him being in and out of the lineup during the final critical minutes. As Coach Horn put it postgame:
“Dan Gherezgher had a night… we’ve been telling him it’s coming. You gotta impact winning when you don’t score the ball.”
Through three Horizon League games, NKU has yet to fully find its defensive footing. The Norse have played some form of zone on roughly 65% of defensive possessions in those games, and opponents have responded by shooting 49% from the field. On the remaining possessions played in man-to-man, Horizon League opponents have shot just 40%, while turning the ball over at a much higher rate. NKU has forced turnovers on 23.9% of those man-to-man possessions, nearly eight points higher than what opponents have produced against the zone. It’s a split worth monitoring as league play continues and the Norse search for a defensive identity.
There were positives for NKU as well. Ethan Elliott turned in his best offensive performance of the season against a Division I opponent, though he did miss a key layup late that would have tied the game at 64–64. Elliott played 32 minutes, handed out five assists, and committed just one turnover, continuing to show his ability as a ball handler. Tae Dozier was a major defensive presence whenever he was on the floor, finishing with a collegiate career-high five blocks. He had reached four blocks multiple times during his four years at Georgetown College, but this was a new high.
Oakland's Key Players
Michael Houge: 31 MIN, 18 PTS, 7-14 FG, 0-0 3PT, 4-4 FT, 8 REB, 4 PF, 1 AST, 2 TO, 0 BLK, 0 STL
Brody Robinson: 37 MIN, 16 PTS, 3-8 FG, 2-6 3PT, 8-8 FT, 4 REB, 2 PF, 6 AST, 4 TO, 0 BLK, 1 STL
Isaac Garrett: 35 MIN, 15 PTS, 6-13 FG, 0-2 3PT, 3-7 FT, 11 REB, 1 PF, 5 AST, 1 TO, 0 BLK, 0 STL
Ziare Wells: 31 MIN, 10 PTS, 4-8 FG, 1-1 3PT, 1-2 FT, 3 REB, 2 PF, 2 AST, 0 TO, 0 BLK, 1 STL
Tuburu Naivalurua: 22 MIN, 6 PTS, 2-4 FG, 0-0 3PT, 2-3 FT, 5 REB, 4 PF, 2 AST, 3 TO, 0 BLK, 0 STL
Brett White: 27 MIN, 10 PTS, 4-11 FG, 2-8 3PT, 0-0 FT, 3 REB, 2 PF, 1 AST, 0 TO, 0 BLK, 1 STL
Northern Kentucky’s Key Players
Kael Robinson: 31 MIN, 22 PTS, 10-16 FG, 2-7 3PT, 0-0 FT, 7 REB, 1 PF, 1 AST, 4 TO, 1 BLK, 2 STL
LJ Wells: 34 MIN, 18 PTS, 8-15 FG, 0-2 3PT, 2-4 FT, 9 REB, 2 PF, 6 AST, 1 TO, 1 BLK, 0 STL
Tae Dozier: 29 MIN, 11 PTS, 5-7 FG, 1-2 3PT, 0-1 FT, 7 REB, 4 PF, 5 AST, 1 TO, 5 BLK, 1 STL
Ethan Elliott: 32 MIN, 10 PTS, 4-7 FG, 1-2 3PT, 1-1 FT, 1 REB, 4 PF, 5 AST, 1 TO, 1 BLK, 0 STL
Donovan Oday: 27 MIN, 11 PTS, 2-8 FG, 1-4 3PT, 6-6 FT, 1 REB, 5 PF, 0 AST, 1 TO, 1 BLK, 2 STL
Dan Gherezgher: 31 MIN, 3 PTS, 1-14 FG, 1-9 3PT, 0-0 FT, 3 REB, 2 PF, 2 AST, 2 TO, 0 BLK, 0 STL
Donovan Rakotonanahary: 8 MIN, 0 PTS, 0-2 FG, 0-0 3PT, 0-0 FT, 4 REB, 1 PF, 0 AST, 0 TO, 0 BLK, 0 STL
Oakland
|
Northern Kentucky
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals (FG) | 28-61 (45.9%) | 31-70 (44.3%) |
| Three-Point FG (3PT) | 6-18 (33.3%) | 6-26 (23.1%) |
| Free Throws (FT) | 20-29 (69.0%) | 9-12 (75.0%) |
| Total Rebounds (Offensive) | 39 (12) | 38 (13) |
| Assists | 17 | 19 |
| Steals | 7 | 5 |
| Blocks | 0 | 9 |
| Turnovers | 10 | 10 |
| Points Off Turnovers | 12 | 8 |
| Fast Break Points | 18 | 13 |
| Points in the Paint | 40 | 50 |
| Personal Fouls | 16 | 21 |
| Largest Lead | 6 | 3 |
Up Next- Charleston at Truist Arena | 12 pm
Northern Kentucky returns to Truist Arena on Sunday for a noon tip against the College of Charleston, opening a doubleheader with the NKU women’s game set to follow. The matchup closes out NKU’s non-conference schedule and offers an immediate chance to respond after a tough league loss. The Cougars return the home-and-home favor by coming to Highland Heights after NKU traveled to Charleston last season and fell 79–64. NKU will be looking to flip that result and get back in the win column against a Charleston team sitting at 6–6 under head coach Chris Mack.
They're going to come in here with a bunch of big, athletic dudes that can really play. We gotta play with a greater sense of urgency when it comes to playing with the kind of discipline and toughness on defense that we need.
