by Neil Meyer
Tonight, the Northern Kentucky Norse (4-4) welcomed in Robert Morris (3-5) to Truist Arena as the
Norse would look to make it three in a row after huge victories over Tennessee Tech and Youngstown State earlier this week.
Norse Guard Marques Warrick has been shooting lights out over the last two games where he scored a career-high 45 points vs Tennessee Tech on Sunday, followed by a huge 30-point performance vs Youngstown State on Thursday in the team's 77-73 victory.
We’d be all tied up at six heading to the under 16 media break as the Colonels were locked in on
defense as they were looking to eliminate the three ball and make the Norse play inside. The Colonels knew they would have a challenge on their hand as Marques Warrick was starting to heat up over the last few games. Warrick started this contest just 1-4 from the field, as the Norse would look to find ways to get him involved early.
Trevon Faulkner provided a huge spark off the bench as he contributed a quick five points on the
offensive side while his stellar defense is what really sparked a huge spark for the Norse. Chris Brandon continued to dominate the glass like we have seen all season as he snatched four quick rebounds in the early minutes as the Norse outrebounded the Colonels 9-2 (5-0 in the offensive rebounding) category through the first nine minutes of action.
The Norse would trail Robert Morris 30-23 at the break as the Norse struggled to get anything going offensively as they turned the ball over 12 times making it hard for the Norse’s leading Scorer in Marques Warrick to get anything going offensively as Warrick would start this contest just 1-6 from the field. The Story of the first half was Robert Morris’s presence inside as they continued to attack the Norse’s 2-3 zone forcing some early adjustments.
Trevon Faulkner would lead the Norse with 10 points on 4-5 shooting in the first half and made a huge presence off the bench for Darrin Horn and the Norse. The Norse would continue to win the battle on the glass as they outrebounded the Colonels 15-10, behind seven boards from Chris Brandon, but the Norse just couldn’t get stops on the defensive end.
The Norse would make some second half adjustments as they would come out of the break on an eight-point run as they looked rebuild the momentum after a slow first half. The Norse was locked in as they started to get stops on defense and cut the Colonels early lead as they trailed 33-32 at the under-16 media timeout following a Warrick three point play.
Robert Morris leading Scorer Enoch Cheeks would pick up his fourth personal foul with 14:45 remaining as that was a huge blow to the colonels on the offensive end as he had a game high 12 points and was starting to turn it on to start the second half. Would the Norse be able to capitalize with Cheeks out for what was presumed to be most of the second half.
The Norse would hang around as they trailed 49-48 at the under eight media timeout of the second half as they continued to trim at the Colonels lead. This time it was the Colonels who started to get sloppy and turn the ball over and that is what has kept the Norse in this contest as they looked to make a late comeback behind a great second half after a Xavier Rhodes floater would give the Norse a 50-49 lead with just under seven minutes remaining.
The Norse would take a huge 55-51 lead after Imanuel Zorgvol crashes the glass and gets the offensive putback to give the Norse their biggest lead of the game with just under five minutes remaining. However, The Colonels would cut the Norse lead to one, where they trailed 57-56 with just over one minute remaining after a huge triple from Josh Corbin. The Colonels would have a great opportunity to tie or win this game as they called timeout with 13.4 seconds trailing 58-56 as they looked to make a final splash on the Norse.
The Norse would hold on to defeat Robert Morris 60-56 behind a late second half surge. The Norse saw four players score in double figures as Trevon Faulkner led the Way with 14, While Marques Warrick contributed 13 points after a huge second half. The Colonels would finish the game shooting nearly 50% of the field but the Norse would pull away in the final second to improve to 5-4 on the season (2-0) in
the Horizon League. The Norse will be back in action this Wednesday at 9PM vs Washington State as they look to go on the road and get a huge nonconference win vs a very tough Pac-12 opponent.
Notables
Trevon Faulkner made Northern Kentucky history tonight as he passed Drew McDonald for the most games played as a Norse as he now has played in 132 games during his career. Faulkner A fifth-year senior etched his name into history books as he has played a key factor in the Norse’s success since arriving back on campus in 2017.
