HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky broke open a close contest in the closing minutes, turning a one-possession game into a comfortable 90-72 victory over the Milwaukee men's basketball team Thursday night at Truist Arena.
 
The Panthers (9-9, 4-3 Horizon League) and Norse (10-9, 5-3 Horizon League) were locked in a tight, back-and-forth affair all evening, with the visitors back within two points with seven minutes to play. From there it was all NKU, scoring 19 of the final 22 points of the contest to claim a decision that was much closer than the final scored indicated.
 
"We gave up points in transition and put them on the free throw line," head coach Bart Lundy said about the close of the game. "And then I thought we panicked a little bit offensively. It comes down to my fault – we needed to have them play with a little more composure and a little more toughness – we will have to be more resilient than that on the road to win at a place like Northern Kentucky."
 
Elijah Jamison reset his career high for the second game in a row to pace the offense, finishing with a game-high 22 points. Jamison added five rebounds and went 5-of-9 from three-point range.
 
BJ Freeman, back in the starting lineup for the first time in 11 games, finished with 15 points and a game-high seven assists. Erik Pratt rounded out the MKE players in double-figures with 14.
 
"We just have to worry about us … tonight was on us," Lundy said about bouncing back. "They played well – give Northern Kentucky credit – but that breakdown at the end was us. We have to get back to being tougher and getting stops. We had gone 2-0 against them last year and they were really motivated to win tonight. Now we have to regroup and get ready for a Wright State team that will also be hungry after a loss."
 
Marques Warrick led the way for NKU with 21 points, seeing the Norse get all five starters in double-figures and six players overall. Michale Bradley had 18 and Trey Robinson recorded a double-double of 12 points and 10 boards.
 
Milwaukee started a little slow but had the game tied at 14-14 on a Pratt 3 and was back within two on a Learic Davis steal and dunk at 30-28. The deficit was eight after a 9-3 Norse spurt but a Freeman three at the halftime buzzer trimmed it to five at 46-41.
 
Back-and-forth the second half went, with the Panthers staying right there but not able to get over the hump. A dunk by Faizon Fields made it 71-69 with 7:04 to play but the remainder of the night was all Northern Kentucky, jumpstarted by 10 points in a row after Milwaukee had grabbed momentum and made it a one-possession game on that dunk.
 
For the night, MKE finished at 45.2 percent (28-of-62) and 30.6 percent (11-of-36) from deep, making just a pair of triples in the second half following nine in the opening 20 minutes. NKU finished at 53.4 percent (31-of-58) overall and 44.4 percent (8-of-18) from deep. Milwaukee was hampered by 18 turnovers and got to the free throw line just seven times, compared to 26 for the home side.
 
Up next, the road trip continues with the first conference rematch of the campaign, traveling to take on Wright State Saturday. Tip time against the Raiders is set for 6 p.m. CT.