Northern Kentucky wins Horizon, seals NCAA bid

INDIANAPOLIS– Marques Warrick scored 18 points and Sam Vinson included 16 to lead Northern Kentucky to a 63-61 victory over Cleveland State and win the Horizon League Tournament championship on Tuesday.The Norse(22-12)

, one-point losers to Wright State in 2015’s title game, advance to the NCAA tournament for the 4th time because 2017. Warrick made four consecutive

complimentary tosses in the final half-minute to give the Norse a seven-point lead. The Vikings( 21-13)scored two times in the last 10 seconds however a 3-pointer included just 0.2 left.Trey Robinson added 12 points for the Norse,

who outscored the Vikings 21-7 off turnovers, making 14 takes. They sank 16 of 18 at the line to 5 of 10 for Cleveland State.Editor’s Picks 2 Related Tristan Enaruna scored 17 points and Deshon

Parker 14 for Cleveland State. Deante Johnson grabbed 10 rebounds.There were 14 lead changes and 12 incorporate a game in which neither group led by double figures.Leading by seven midway through the 2nd half, the Norse went scoreless for over 6 minutes but still led by 2 with four minutes staying.

They then scored consecutive baskets a minute apart, the 2nd on Vinson’s jumper following Brandon’s swat of Ramar Pryor’s layup attempt.The Vikings got within 3 two times before Warrick’s free throws.Vinson and Warwick scored 10 points apiece in the very first half to lead NKU to a 33-30 lead.Four-seed NKU and three-seed Cleveland State completed in a three-way tie for 2nd place with Milwaukee behind Youngstown State. The Norse knocked out Youngstown State and Cleveland State got rid of 2-seed Milwaukee in Monday’s semifinals. The finalists divided their regular-season series, each winning by a point on their house court.