Northern Kentucky Surges Past Men's Basketball, 74-65
November 29, 2025 | Men's Basketball
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Despite shooting 56.1 percent from the field, the Boston University men's basketball team dropped a 74-65 decision at Northern Kentucky Saturday afternoon.
Now on an eight-game win streak dating back to last season, the Norse (6-2) overcame their 38.3 percent shooting performance by outscoring the Terriers (3-5) in second-chance opportunities (25-7), off turnovers (19-12) and at the free throw line (20-14) with an 8-5 advantage in made 3-pointers.
Freshman Chance Gladden led BU with a season-tying 20 points alongside three assists, while junior Michael McNair earned 18 points with the help of three 3-pointers. Totaling a team-high five rebounds, sophomore Ben Defty was the third Terrier to score in double digits at 11 points. Both he and graduate student Malcolm Chimezie also helped defensively in the paint with two blocks apiece.
Dan Gherezgher led NKU's 50-point second-half surge scoring 20 of his game-high 23 points, while Donovan Oday went 10-for-13 at the charity stripe en route to 16 points alongside three of the Norse's 10 steals. LJ Wells (14) and Kael Robinson (11) both scored in double figures.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Now on an eight-game win streak dating back to last season, the Norse (6-2) overcame their 38.3 percent shooting performance by outscoring the Terriers (3-5) in second-chance opportunities (25-7), off turnovers (19-12) and at the free throw line (20-14) with an 8-5 advantage in made 3-pointers.
Freshman Chance Gladden led BU with a season-tying 20 points alongside three assists, while junior Michael McNair earned 18 points with the help of three 3-pointers. Totaling a team-high five rebounds, sophomore Ben Defty was the third Terrier to score in double digits at 11 points. Both he and graduate student Malcolm Chimezie also helped defensively in the paint with two blocks apiece.
Dan Gherezgher led NKU's 50-point second-half surge scoring 20 of his game-high 23 points, while Donovan Oday went 10-for-13 at the charity stripe en route to 16 points alongside three of the Norse's 10 steals. LJ Wells (14) and Kael Robinson (11) both scored in double figures.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After, Defty followed McNair's 3-pointer with a putback for early 7-2 lead at 17:32, the Norse responded with a 10-4 run over the next six minutes capped by Gherezgher's 3-pointer at 10:59.
- On BU's next possession, sophomore Azmar Abdullah drove to the hoop for a layup and lead that the Terriers would not relinquish the rest of the half.
- McNair struck again from behind the arc for 29-20 lead at 1:22, but NKU scored the final four points off two free throws and a buzzer-beating putback to enter the locker room down by five.
- After Wells cut BU's lead to 32-31 on a layup and bonus free throw at 16:52, McNair drained a 3-pointer as part of a 10-0 spurt over the next three minutes finished by two Defty free throws.
- The Norse though quickly came back with a 11-2 run capped by another putback at 10:41 to pull within two.
- Donovan Rakotonanahary followed up with a layup with 9:29 remaining to grab the lead for good, 47-46, and Gherezgher netted two free throws and a driving layup set up by Oday's steal to pull ahead, 52-46.
- McNair hit a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 54-53 at 7:30, but BU would never be able retake the lead,
- After the teams exchanged defensive stops, Gherezgher completed a four-point play at 5:30 to extend the Norse's lead to 62-55.
- NKU grabbed its largest lead, 70-60, on a 3-pointer with 3:05 left.
- Trying to mount a late rally, Gladden hit three free throws over two offensive possessions and McNair added a layup to pull within five, 70-65, at 1:17.
- Gherezgher came back with a layup, and Oday scored twice at the free throw line off his steal to help seal the victory.
- Gladden joined McNair as the only Terriers to score 20+ points in multiple games this season.
- After averaging 9.5 points and 4.0 rebounds over the last two contests, graduate student Ethan Okwuosa missed his fourth game of the season due to injury.
- NKU out-rebounded BU, 33-24, and hauled in 18 offensive rebounds against the Terriers' six to win the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
- BU will return home to host Vermont State University Johnson for second time in three years on Wednesday (Dec. 3) at 6 p.m.
- In the previous meeting in 2023, BU rolled to a 90-49 home victory by shooting 50.0 FG% and finishing with a 14-3 advantage in made 3FGs.
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