The Bank of Kentucky Center had a nice turnout as NKU faced off against Atlantic Sun Conference leader North Florida Ospreys. The Norse came into the game 2-1 in conference and the Ospreys were 4 -0.
During the first half it seemed like a bit of a feeling out party for both teams. The Ospreys were led by the guard/forward combination of Dallas Moore and Chris Davenport. Moore and Davenport had 13 and 8 points during the first half. Moore showed off a nice floater and a knack for getting the rim. The Norse were down 18-16 when Jalen Billups was charged with his second foul in the first half, Billups picking up his second foul hurt the Norse especially on the offensive end. The solid play of senior guard Chad Jackson was able to keep the Norse in the game. Jackson finished the half with 9 points and 5 rebounds. The Norse went to the half down 33-27.
The second half the energy picked up and it seemed as if the Ospreys were going to blowout the Norse after back to back dunks by Davenport NKU found themselves down 11 points. After Coach Bezold called a timeout immediately after the second dunk the light seemed to click for the Norse. Behind the three-headed monster in Chad Jackson, Jalen Billups and Tyler White they kept making play after play to keep the Norse in the game, but a couple of key plays by the Ospreys were able to keep them as bay. A key three by Beau Beech with the shot clock running out and nice floater by Moore put the nail in the coffin for the Norse as they weren’t able to get it closer than 4 points in the last 3 minutes. The Ospreys went on to win the game 74-66. NKU went on to shoot 53.6% on 28 shots in the second half, but the vice that broke their back was turnovers they committed 17 total and 10 in the second half.
NKU moves to 2-2 in the conference while the Ospreys move to 5-0. NKU will face Jacksonville on Saturday at 1 pm. Hopefully they can get back on track.
Key Players:
Chad Jackson had 26 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
Jalen Billups had 18 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal.
Tyler White had 13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals.
Chris Davenport had 24 points and 6 rebounds
Dallas Moore had 19 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal.
Beau Beech had 14 points and 7 rebounds.
