Oday Goes for 38: NKU Drops 92–89 Overtime Battle to Robert Morris

Northern Kentucky and Robert Morris delivered exactly what a Horizon League January matchup should look like: physical, fast, and decided by the smallest margins. The Norse spent the night trading punches with a Colonials team that never stopped attacking, digging out of early holes, flipping momentum after halftime, and forcing extra basketball in a game that felt tense from the opening tip. In the end, it was a back-and-forth battle that came down to late execution and a handful of decisive possessions.

First Half

RMU’s Physicality Sets the Tone

Robert Morris controlled the early flow by playing downhill and embracing contact on both ends. The Colonials attacked the glass, generated second chances, and forced NKU to score through bodies rather than space. It was the kind of tone-setting stretch that put the Norse on their heels and dictated the style of the half.

Missed Finishes Stall NKU’s Offense

Northern Kentucky generated looks inside, but failed to convert them consistently. Layups rolled off, finishes were rushed, and physical plays at the rim favored RMU. Postgame with Jim Kelch and Rick Broering, Coach Darrin Horn was blunt about that stretch.

“That we were soft. You gotta go finish those plays, and we didn’t do that.”

Those empty possessions compounded quickly, allowing Robert Morris to build separation without needing a big shooting run.

Late Life, But RMU Controls the Half

A late Tae Dozier three provided a spark just before the break, but the bigger picture didn’t change. Robert Morris went into halftime up seven after winning the physical battle and making NKU uncomfortable for most of the first 20 minutes.

Second Half

Lineup Shift Changes the Energy

After RMU opened the half by extending the lead to ten, Horn adjusted his rotation and leaned into defensive aggression. The response was immediate. NKU ramped up pressure, forced turnovers, and turned defense into transition offense, flipping momentum in a matter of minutes.

Oday Drives the Comeback

Donovan Oday was the engine of the surge. He attacked the rim relentlessly, absorbed contact, and played with confidence, dragging NKU back into the game possession by possession. Horn credited that aggression after the game.

“He doesn’t play scared. I just thought he played with a lot of confidence and very aggressive.”

NKU briefly seized the lead during its best stretch of basketball on the night.

Back-and-Forth Down the Stretch

Neither team blinked late. Every NKU run was answered by RMU shot-making, and the game turned into a possession-by-possession fight. With time winding down, Oday delivered again, knocking down a deep three to tie the game and force overtime.

Overtime

Short-Handed From the Jump

Northern Kentucky entered overtime already at a disadvantage. Dan Gherezgher had fouled out at the end of regulation, removing one of NKU’s most reliable ball-handlers and decision-makers from the floor. At the same time, LJ Wells opened the extra period playing with four fouls, forcing the Norse to be careful about how aggressively they could defend and attack around the rim.

Despite that, NKU struck first. Wells and Oday continued to pressure the paint, and the Norse briefly grabbed the lead by leaning into physical drives rather than settling from the perimeter. But every bucket required extra effort, and each possession carried added risk with the foul situation.

Execution Slips Late

As the clock wound down, the margin for error disappeared. Robert Morris capitalized on second-chance opportunities and free throws, while NKU struggled to get clean looks late in the shot clock. A turnover in the final seconds sealed it, and the Norse were forced to foul as the Colonials closed the game at the line.

Short-handed, fatigued, and operating without one of its primary guards, NKU couldn’t make the final play it needed, and Robert Morris walked out of Truist Arena with the overtime win. Horn summed up the difference succinctly.

“You gotta make plays on both ends, and I thought they had some huge possessions.”

Final Numbers and Takeaways

After Andy Toole made a statement with his starting lineup, benching DeSean Goode and Nikolaos Chitikoudis after both had started every game they appeared in this season, Robert Morris controlled the first half. The game was played at RMU’s pace, and the scoreboard reflected it. Defensively, the Colonials packed the paint, stayed compact, and were comfortable closing out late to shooters. Their length on the perimeter disrupted rhythm, particularly for Kael Robinson, who struggled to find clean looks.

Robinson finished the night 1-for-8 from the field and 0-for-3 from three. Since his 29-point explosion at Milwaukee, where he went 9-for-13 from deep, Kael has gone just 6-for-23 from the field and 1-for-11 from three. League opponents have adjusted, doing a much better job of taking away the trail three that he had grown comfortable knocking down once or twice per game.

The second half opened with a completely different energy from NKU. With the added wrinkle of pressing out of nearly every timeout, the Norse delivered their most electric stretch of the season. Down four and applying full-court pressure after a made free throw, Donovan Rakotonanahary picked off a pass from behind, igniting a transition left-handed slam by Dan Gherezgher over Ryan Prather Jr., easily the most impressive in-game dunk of Gherezgher’s career.

The run didn’t stop there. After surrendering a bucket on the other end, LJ Wells responded by attacking Chitikoudis and finishing a two-handed dunk. On the next defensive possession, the ball slipped through Chitikoudis’ hands, forcing another turnover with NKU still down two. Moments later, Gherezgher threatened the drive, pulled in help, and kicked to Donovan Oday in the corner for a go-ahead three.

Wells followed that with a steal by denying the post entry, pushing NKU back into transition. Gherezgher advanced the ball ahead to Tae Dozier, who caught it off balance and delivered a perfectly timed tip pass to Oday for a layup, capping an explosive sequence that gave NKU its largest lead of the game.

That was the best stretch of basketball the Norse had all night. After the Oday layup, Andy Toole could not wait for the under 12 media and called a timeout to help settle his team down, that timeout turned into a media timeout, then once action resumed NKU put the full court press back on but this time got beat for a layup and on the next RMU offensive possession NKU got called for a foul out top, leading to the under 12 media. These near back-to-back media timeouts were in my mind the perfect situation for the Colonials to settle the game down and stop the massive NKU wave of action.

Despite the loss Oday was the answer for the Norse all night. He finished the game with a career high 38 points on just 18 shots, was the only Norse to hit multiple threes including the most important one which sent the game into overtime. He was relentlessly getting downhill in transition and the half court. It was truly something to watch. The second he entered the game for NKU he made an immediate impact. Check out his three that sent the game into overtime:

That marks the third time in NKU’s Division I history that a Norse player has been part of three consecutive games with a 30-plus point performance. The first came during the 2019–20 season, when Tyler Sharpe did it in three straight games with outings of 30, 33, and 31 points. The second occurred at the end of the 2023–24 season, when Marques Warrick scored 39 and 35 in back-to-back games against Wright State, followed by Trey Robinson’s 33-point performance against Milwaukee in the Horizon League Tournament. This time, the stretch belonged to Donovan Oday and LJ Wells, with Oday scoring 31, Wells posting 35, and Oday following it with 38. Unfortunately for NKU, two of those performances came in losses.

Tae Dozier’s impact showed up both in the box score and well beyond it. He logged 40 of the game’s 45 minutes, finishing with seven points, six rebounds, five assists, zero turnovers, four blocks, and a steal. More importantly, his defensive pressure and activity helped NKU manufacture stops when they were otherwise difficult to find. His ability to disrupt passing lanes and protect the rim played a significant role in keeping the Norse competitive.

In a similar, though more limited role, Donovan Rakotonanahary made his presence felt in the full-court press. His energy, length, and anticipation helped spark NKU’s comeback and gave the Norse an effective change-of-pace defensively. This was one of NKU’s more press-heavy games of the season, likely influenced by Robert Morris’ recent struggles against pressure in its loss at IU Indy, where the Colonials appeared rushed into mistakes.

Ultimately, NKU struggled to string together defensive stops. When the Norse did force a miss or turnover, Robert Morris frequently responded with timely baskets, many coming from Ryan Prather Jr. While Prather is known primarily as a perimeter shooter, he punished NKU for overplaying him by consistently getting downhill. Both fist and man coverage had issues, as NKU allowed 0.928 points per possession defensively, too high to overcome in a game of this margin.

The most pivotal moment of overtime came with NKU trailing by one and just over 20 seconds remaining. With LJ Wells isolated in the post against Nikolaos Chitikoudis, Wells backed him down and got to his spot on the left side of the rim. After a brief shot fake that lifted his defender, Wells opted to try a handoff to Donovan Oday cutting toward the basket rather than going up strong. The pass was intercepted, ending NKU’s best chance to take the lead. That single decision ultimately proved to be the defining moment in overtime and sealed the outcome for the Norse.

“Get the ball to LJ Wells. I mean, it was really that simple, right? And, you know, he got to the middle and just didn’t get it on the rim. And again, that’s what I mean about making plays. You gotta get that on the rim, right? You cannot turn it over in that situation.”

Northern Kentucky’s Key Players

Donovan Oday: 36 MIN, 38 PTS, 11-18 FG, 4-8 3PT, 12-16 FT, 4 REB, 4 AST, 5 TO
LJ Wells: 35 MIN, 18 PTS, 5-12 FG, 0-1 3PT, 8-12 FT, 8 REB, 3 AST, 4 BLK
Dan Gherezgher: 37 MIN, 15 PTS, 5-12 FG, 1-8 3PT, 4-5 FT, 7 REB, 5 AST
Tae Dozier: 40 MIN, 7 PTS, 3-7 FG, 1-5 3PT, 0-0 FT, 6 REB, 5 AST, 4 STL

Robert Morris’ Key Players

Ryan Prather Jr.: 38 MIN, 23 PTS, 9-18 FG, 4-12 3PT, 1-2 FT, 4 REB, 3 AST
Kaleb Brown: 31 MIN, 14 PTS, 5-8 FG, 2-4 3PT, 2-4 FT, 6 REB
Nikolaos Chitikoudis: 33 MIN, 14 PTS, 4-8 FG, 0-0 3PT, 6-12 FT, 11 REB
DeSean Goode: 33 MIN, 12 PTS, 6-13 FG, 0-1 3PT, 0-0 FT, 10 REB
Ta’Zir Smith: 26 MIN, 11 PTS, 3-6 FG, 2-4 3PT, 3-3 FT, 4 REB

	Robert Morris	Northern Kentucky
Field Goals (FG)	30-65 (46.2%)	28-66 (42.4%)
Three-Point FG (3PT)	11-28 (39.3%)	6-26 (23.1%)
Free Throws (FT)	21-31 (67.7%)	27-37 (73.0%)
Total Rebounds (Offensive)	47 (13)	37 (12)
Assists	16	16
Steals	8	8
Blocks	1	6
Turnovers	16	14
Points Off Turnovers	16	21
Fast Break Points	8	30
Points in the Paint	38	44
Personal Fouls	26	20
Largest Lead	12	3

Up Next- @ Wright State 1/24 | 7pm

A massive Horizon League matchup awaits. Wright State currently sits at 7–1 and alone in first place in the league, riding a seven-game winning streak that includes six conference wins. The Raiders have already beaten Oakland twice and have looked like the league’s most consistent team through the first half of conference play.

NKU will have the benefit of rest, not playing again until Saturday, while Wright State hosts Cleveland State before the two meet. The Raiders’ lone league loss came against Youngstown State earlier this season, a result that now stands out as the exception rather than the rule as NKU prepares for one of its toughest road tests of the year.

Follow all the action with Jim Kelch and Rick Broering on ESPN 1530 with pregame coverage starting at 6:30 pm on January 24th! You can also watch the game on ESPN+.