by Parker Fields
On a Rainy Night in Highland Heights, Kentucky there was one thing to look forward to. The NKU Men's basketball team, who was rolling coming into tonight’s game against Robert Morris University winning 10 out of their last 12 games.
From the tip, this game did not disappoint. The Norse started the game 6/8 from the field and 2/2 from three. The thing is Robert Morris kept up pretty much with them, as just 7 minutes into this game NKU led 20-14 and both teams were getting to their spots at will.
This was until the Marques Warrick Explosion happened. Warrick hit four straight threes on four straight possessions before getting subbed out for a quick breather. Warrick was a prolific 6/8 from the field and 5/5 from three before getting subbed out.
Another standout player early for the Norse was Sam Vinson. Vinson was getting to his spots at will, finding open teammates, and scoring efficiently when he decided to shoot the ball. Trevon Faulkner also was hitting some shots early and finding open teammates. The rest of the half was back and forth, and nobody was scoring too much, and it was a much slower pace for the rest of the half. NKU took a commanding 46-31 lead into halftime.
NKU was led by Marques Warrick with 20 points and 3
rebounds, Trevon Faulkner with 8 points and 2 rebounds, and Sam Vinson with 8 points and 2 assists. The three-headed monster at guard for NKU was just very dominant in the first half. Robert Morris was led by Kam Farris off the bench with 9 points, and Enoch Cheeks and Michael
Green III with 6 points each.
The second half was a little different early on. Robert Morris came out in a zone defense which stifled the Norse early. NKU just couldn’t get into a flow offensively for the first
seven or 8 minutes of the half. The only time the Norse were scoring was by getting out in transition. However, the positive for this was that NKU was stifling Robert Morris on the other end as well. This was all until about 12 or so minutes left in the game.
NKU started to settle into their zone defense and start getting the best shot down the floor each time. The rest of this
game honestly wasn’t that great in terms of competitiveness. NKU continuously went down the floor and scored baskets and then got stops on the other end. NKU had defeated Robert Morris and won this one 78-64.
Marques Warrick finished this game-tying his career with 30 points on
a career-high 7 threes, followed by Trevon Faulkner with 10. It won’t show up in the stat sheet but Trey Robinson was an excellent spark plug off the bench. Robert Morris was led by Kam Farris with 14 points off the bench.
NKU shot 49% from the field and 40% from three and overall dominated this game from start to finish.
The Norse will look to keep their momentum as they host Youngstown State at 7 P.M at BB&T Arena for Senior Day.
