Northern Kentucky powers past Cleveland State 70-55

Jan 16, 2018, 03:50 am

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. -- Mason Faulkner scored 16 points with 7-for-11 shooting and Northern Kentucky cruised to a 70-55 win over Cleveland State on Monday night.

Drew McDonald added 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Carson Williams had 12 points to go with nine boards for Northern Kentucky, which has won five of its past six games. Kentucky (12-6, 5-1 Horizon League) got 10 steals to Cleveland State's three and outrebounded the Vikings 38-33.

Cleveland State (4-15, 1-5) stayed close early in the game, knotting the score three times, including Jamarcus Hairston's layup to tie it at 17 with 6:27 to go until intermission.

Northern Kentucky then took control, getting back-to-back 3-pointers from Faulkner to ignite a 20-4 run to take a 37-21 lead into the break. Tyler Sharpe also had a pair of 3-pointers in the breakaway run and the Norse protected the double-digit advantage the rest of the way.

Kasheem Thomas led Cleveland State with 10 points and Kenny Carpenter had 10 rebounds.