The Northern Kentucky Norse got 39 points from its bench against Lipscomb and eased past the Bisons 67-53 at the Bank of Kentucky on Friday.
Tyler White and Jack Flournoy each finished 18 points and Eshaunte Jones added 11 off the bench to lead the way for the Norse (4-9, 2-3 Atlantic Sun). Malcolm Smith led the way for the Bisons (6-10, 1-4) with 13 and Delonte Alexander had 10 off the bench.
Lipscomb took an early lead as they opened the game with five straight points and held a 9-5 lead in the opening four minutes. That's when the Norse would begin to heat up from behind the arc. Flournoy brought the Norse to within one with the first of his four 3-pointers and then NKU took its first lead when on a jumper by Flournoy and a 3-pointer by Ernest Watson.
Two straight layups by Lipscomb tied the game at 13, but that would be the closest the Bisons would get. A 3-pointer by Flournoy gave the lead back to NKU and then the Norse built on that with a 3-pointer by Jones and another by Flournoy.
NKU would make four more 3-pointers and scored as many points in the first half (44) as they did for the entire game in Tuesday's loss to East Tennessee State. In the opening half the Norse made nearly 60 percent (10-of-17) of their 3-point attempts and over 50 percent of their shots (15-of-28).
The Norse would open the second half on a 9-0 run to build an insurmountable lead at 53-28. NKU's lead grew as big as 27 and was no fewer than 14. That came when Denny Talbott hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left to make it a 67-53 final.
The Norse will hit the road for their next two games starting in Deland, Fla., to take on the Stetson Hatters (6-10, 3-2) on Thursday, Jan. 17 at 7:00 p.m.
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