The Norse keep on rolling after a hard fought victory over Coastal Carolina in the finale of the KEMI Basketball Classic, 89-83.
Senior leader Drew McDonald had 32 points in Sunday's game along with 12 rebounds and 17 free throw attempts. "I think that's the most (free throws) i've ever shot in a college game." McDonald said during the press conference. "One I get to the line and see the ball go into the hoop that's what keeps me going."
The Norse also got some big play from Junior Guard Jalen Tate with 16 points and six rebounds and Tyler Sharpe with 15 points. Tate was also named to the KEMI Basketball Classic All-Tournament Team.
"Extremely proud of our young men. We won a championship this weekend, that's the way we phrased it." Head Coach John Brannen explained in his post game presser. "We;re one of the few teams in the country to play six games to date, we've really played a lot of games here in a short period of time and it was intentional because we knew we had a young team and I wanted to get a chance to understand who we were and what we need to get better at and get more defined roles."
To summarize, NKU won three games this weekend 3 different ways against three different schools who have made trips to the NCAA Tournament in recent years. Senior Drew McDonald was named Tournament MVP to go along with teammate Jalen Tate making the all tournament team joining Coastal Carolina;s Zac Cuthberson, UNC Asheville's DeVon Baker and Manhattan's Warren Williams and Nehemiah Mack.
Up Next for the Norse: a date Saturday night in Orlando, Florida going against the University of Central Florida. UCF currently sits at 3-1 so far in the year and will bring a nice challenge to NKU before two big games against UMBC and the University of Cincinnati.
