HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Rob Edward scored 19 points and Demonte Flannigan added 14, but Cleveland State dropped an 83-75 contest at Northern Kentucky on Saturday afternoon at BB&T Arena.

The Vikings fell to 5-11 overall and 1-3 in the Horizon League, while NKU improved to 12-5 this season (3-1 HL).

STAT LEADERS

• Edwards hit 7-of-12 from the field and added four rebounds and five assists.
• Flannigan posted his 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and grabbed four rebounds.
• Kasheem Thomas tallied 10 points, while Kenny Carpenter scored eight points.
• Jibri Blount added seven points and four rebounds, while Anthony Wright posted four points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists.
• Nelson Maxwell hit both of his field goals, including a three-pointer, and scored five points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Drew McDonald's hot hand helped the Norse race out to a 16-5 lead five minutes in as he hit four three pointers.
• The Vikings came back with 10 straight points to slice the deficit to 16-15 with 12 minutes left in the half, but Mason Faulkner scored seven straight points to push the Norse lead to 23-15.
• The lead would reach as many as nine points, but CSU cut its deficit to five points three times before NKU scored seven of the final nine points of the half to take a 43-33 lead at the half.
• The Norse extended the lead to 48-35 early in the second half, but CSU's full court pressure forced NKU into back-to-back turnovers, leading to six straight points for the Vikings, cutting the Norse lead to 48-41.
• However, a pair of three-pointers helped spark NKU to a 13-point advantage (61-48) with 11 minutes to play.
• The lead was still 11 points with just over one minute to play (77-66), but Edwards hit three free throws after he was fouled and Flannigan scored after a Norse turnover to cut the deficit to 77-71 with 35 seconds left.
• The Norse would hit six straight free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Today's win marked NKU's first-ever win over CSU in three all-time meetings.
• CSU shot .483 (29-60) from the field and hit 7-of-18 (.389) from three-point.
• NKU was 27-of-52 (.519) from the floor and made 10-of-24 (.417) from three-point.
• CSU made just nine turnovers, while the Norse committed only 11.
• NKU held a 34-27 advantage on the glass, while the Viking bench outscored NKU's, 29-19.
• McDonald led all scorers with 37 points.

UP NEXT

• The Vikings return home to host UIC on Thursday (Jan. 12) at 7:45 pm. It will be a doubleheader with the CSU women hosting Valparaiso at 5:30 pm.
• CSU will also host Valparaiso on Saturday (Jan. 14) at 3:30 pm with the Viking women hosting UIC at 1:00 pm in another doubleheader.