Norse Build 18-Point Halftime Lead, Fall on Buzzer-Beating Tip-In 92-91 to Wright State
Northern Kentucky played one of its sharpest offensive halves of the season Friday night, building an 18-point lead at the break and looking firmly in control against the Horizon League regular season champions. The Norse shot 60% in the first half and led 53-35 at halftime, riding paint touches, second chance effort, and confident perimeter shooting. But the game flipped after the break, as Wright State stormed back with 57 second half points and stole a 92-91 win on a tip-in at the buzzer in a finish that stunned Truist Arena.
First Half
Rapid Scoring Sets the Tone
If you blinked, you missed the start.
Wright State opened with a three, but NKU immediately punched back. Ethan Elliott got downhill for a layup, then did it again on the next trip. Three early drives, three finishes. The Norse were scoring before the Raiders could even get their defense set.
Through the first stretch, both teams scored on six of the games first seven possessions. It was paint touches, quick decisions, and confident shooting. Kael Robinson added a tough interior finish, and when Dan Gherezgher checked in, he buried a three off an Elliott offensive rebound to give NKU its first lead at 9-8.
Playing Through Contact and Extending the Lead
Robinson’s and-one was the exclamation point on that early run. He absorbed contact, flipped it up, and finished through traffic to push the margin to eight. From there, the Norse started stacking possessions.
Addison Archer made a good play on the offensive glass, keeping the play alive and finding Donovan Oday for a deep three that stretched the lead to 11. The ball movement followed. Gherezgher was trapped in the post on one trip, calmly kicked it out, and the extra pass found LJ Wells for a rhythm three.
Every Bounce Going NKU’s Way
Midway through the half, it became a wave.
Oday hit from deep again. Wells scored inside. Robinson kept attacking mismatches. Then came the sequence that summed up the half. A missed shot caromed long, Archer saved it from going out, and the ball found Gherezgher cutting to the rim. He finished through contact for an and-one that pushed the lead to 40-24. Extra effort. Second chances. Smart decisions.
By halftime, Northern Kentucky had shot 60.0% from the field and 7-13 from three while going a perfect 10-10 at the line. The Norse walked into the locker room up 53-35, having dictated tempo, won the glass battles that mattered, and turned hustle plays into separation.
Second Half
Raiders Flip the Script with Pressure and Paint Points
What felt comfortable at halftime unraveled quickly. They lived in the paint, turned defensive rebounds into transition pushes, and slowly chipped away at the 18-point deficit.
NKU had chances to stretch it back out. Oday hit timely shots. Robinson continued to finish inside. Gherezgher answered a few runs with tough midrange jumpers and a three that briefly steadied the margin. But the clean offensive flow from the first half disappeared. The Norse shot just 46.9% after the break and went 2-12 from three.
Meanwhile, Wright State kept coming in waves. Michael Imariagbe became a force on the glass, piling up second chances. Kellen Pickett attacked downhill. The Raiders scored 52 points in the paint for the game, and most of their late momentum came from point blank finishes and offensive rebounds.
The lead shrank from double digits to single possessions. Then it was a one possession game. Then it was chaos.
A Final Scramble and a Tip-In at the Horn
The final minute felt like a season crammed into 60 seconds. After trading free throws and quick scores, Oday drove coast to coast and converted a three-point play with eight seconds left to give NKU a 91-90 edge. Truist Arena was ready to explode.
Wright State missed at the rim with three seconds remaining. NKU was in position. Imariagbe slipped inside, rose over traffic, and tipped it in as the clock hit zero.
Final score: Wright State 92, Northern Kentucky 91
An 18-point halftime lead erased. A second half defined by offensive rebounds and pressure. And a game that will be remembered for one last bounce that did not go NKU’s way.
Final Numbers and Takeaways
Wright State showed exactly why it earned the No. 1 seed and the Horizon League regular season title. Even with nothing to gain in the standings and staring at an 18-point halftime deficit, the Raiders never coasted. They kept attacking, kept rebounding, and eventually forced the game back into a one-possession battle.
Even after letting WSU all the way back in, NKU still had chances to close it. Wells missed the front end of a one-and-one, but the Norse kept possession after officials ruled the ball went out on the Raiders following a review. On that same trip, Dan Gherezgher couldn’t convert a tough driving layup in traffic. Then came Donovan Oday’s moment. He spun through the lane, finished through contact, and completed the and-one to give NKU the lead with eight seconds left.
Wright State pushed the ball quickly. The first shot missed. The second did not. A tip-in at the horn flipped the final score and ended it.
With the loss, NKU locks into the No. 7 seed and will travel to Oakland for the first round. A win would have moved the Norse to the No. 6 seed and a trip to Green Bay. Below is the updated tournament bracket.
This marked NKU’s first loss of the season when scoring more than 90 points. The Norse had been 8-0 in games where they topped 90.
Offense was not the issue. NKU shot better than 53% from the field, and Donovan Oday, Kael Robinson, LJ Wells, and Dan Gherezgher all reached double figures. Wright State matched that firepower with five players in double figures of its own, keeping pace possession after possession.
The Raiders finished at 1.082 points per possession, an even more efficient performance than in the first meeting. The biggest difference this time was their ability to turn defense into quick offense, generating 12 fast break points that proved critical in a one-point game.
Northern Kentucky’s Key Players
Donovan Oday: 29 MIN, 21 PTS, 7-12 FG, 4-7 3PT, 3-3 FT, 2 REB, 4 PF, 0 AST, 4 TO, 0 BLK, 0 STL
Dan Gherezgher: 23 MIN, 21 PTS, 8-13 FG, 4-7 3PT, 1-1 FT, 0 REB, 4 PF, 3 AST, 2 TO, 0 BLK, 0 STL
Kael Robinson: 31 MIN, 17 PTS, 5-8 FG, 0-3 3PT, 7-7 FT, 2 REB, 3 PF, 2 AST, 0 TO, 0 BLK, 2 STL
LJ Wells: 26 MIN, 13 PTS, 5-13 FG, 1-3 3PT, 2-3 FT, 5 REB, 4 PF, 2 AST, 1 TO, 1 BLK, 1 STL
Ethan Elliott: 32 MIN, 7 PTS, 3-8 FG, 0-3 3PT, 1-3 FT, 5 REB, 1 PF, 3 AST, 1 TO, 0 BLK, 0 STL
Wright State’s Key Players
Kellen Pickett: 30 MIN, 19 PTS, 7-10 FG, 1-4 3PT, 4-5 FT, 7 REB, 4 PF, 2 AST, 0 TO, 0 BLK, 0 STL
Michael Imariagbe: 27 MIN, 15 PTS, 6-8 FG, 0-0 3PT, 3-7 FT, 16 REB, 1 PF, 3 AST, 4 TO, 0 BLK, 0 STL
Michael Cooper: 25 MIN, 15 PTS, 6-10 FG, 2-2 3PT, 1-1 FT, 1 REB, 1 PF, 2 AST, 0 TO, 0 BLK, 1 STL
TJ Burch: 31 MIN, 14 PTS, 6-10 FG, 2-3 3PT, 0-0 FT, 0 REB, 3 PF, 5 AST, 4 TO, 0 BLK, 4 STL
Solomon Callaghan: 23 MIN, 12 PTS, 4-10 FG, 4-7 3PT, 0-0 FT, 1 REB, 1 PF, 2 AST, 0 TO, 0 BLK, 2 STL
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|---|---|---|
| Field Goals (FG) | 35-63 (55.6%) | 33-62 (53.2%) |
| Three-Point FG (3PT) | 9-18 (50.0%) | 9-25 (36.0%) |
| Free Throws (FT) | 13-20 (65.0%) | 16-20 (80.0%) |
| Total Rebounds (Offensive) | 37 (14) | 27 (9) |
| Assists | 15 | 14 |
| Steals | 8 | 8 |
| Blocks | 0 | 2 |
| Turnovers | 11 | 8 |
| Points Off Turnovers | 12 | 14 |
| Fast Break Points | 12 | 17 |
| Points in the Paint | 52 | 48 |
| Personal Fouls | 19 | 20 |
| Largest Lead | 4 | 20 |
Up Next- @ Oakland 3/4 | 7pm
The Norse head to Rochester for a first-round matchup on the blacktop at the O’Rena. Oakland took both regular season meetings, winning 82-77 at Truist Arena and 76-65 at home.
Now it shifts to March, where none of that matters unless you let it. NKU will need four wins to capture the title, and it starts Wednesday night in Oakland. Full preview coming before the game.
