---Harrison Morton scores a basket during the first half of NKU’s 101-60 win over Kentucky Christian. Morton notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Anyone who expected a complete, absolute blowout to occur Tuesday night guessed exactly right.

But would anyone have expected Michael Kramer to spark Northern Kentucky University's offensive attack with 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field during a 101-60 victory over Kentucky Christian?

In fact, did anyone except those inside the NKU program even know Kramer was even on the roster?

Kramer, a 6-foot-5 wing player from Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati, joined the team at the semester break. In his debut Tuesday night, Kramer scored all 14 of his points in the second half and grabbed four rebounds in just 11 minutes of action.

Anthony Teague also added 14 points for NKU, which improved to 9-4 with the non-conference victory. Kramer and Teague spearheaded the Norse bench, which produced 65 points during the lopsided win.

NKU head coach Dave Bezold, in fact, pulled his five starters only five minutes into the game with the score tied at 13-all. And the reserves responded.

"It was one of those situations where it’s a privilege to be able to go out and play basketball. You better have some excitement, enthusiasm and be ready to go," Bezold said of yanking his starters. "We’ll find five people who will be excited to play. I felt comfortable having the other group out there."

It took a couple of minutes, as Kentucky Christian again tied the score at 21-all on a basket by Akeem Scott. That did not please the NKU coaching staff.

"It was a little frustrating because sometimes you come out and try to judge a book by its cover, and you don’t play as well," Bezold said. "You see the other end and they’re not very tall, but those kids play hard and that’s what I told our guys. They all can shoot it.

"You’ve got to be ready to play and be fundamentally sound, but we weren’t ready to go. As a result it was tied at 21 at one point, and our guys learned as a lesson that you better respect anybody that walks onto the floor."

Properly motivated, NKU used a 28-10 run to end the first half and take a 49-31 lead at the break. The Norse built the 18-point advantage by shooting 52.8 percent from the field. Travis Rasso scored all nine of his points in the first half to lead NKU.

Harrison Morton, who finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, added eight points before the break. Morton also finished with four assists in 17 minutes of action.

---Michael Kramer scored 14 points in his NKU debut Tuesday night.

In the second half, Kramer and Teague combined for 25 points as NKU led by as many as 42 points. Kramer, in fact, put NKU over the century mark by draining a 3-pointer with 1:14 remaining in the game. Kramer spent a year at Central Michigan University before enrolling at NKU in December.

As a prep standout at Oak Hills, he averaged 16 points per game as a senior.

Teague continued his hot shooting from 3-point range by making four treys. He also grabbed five rebounds in 22 minutes on the court. The 6-5 senior has also been one of the most torrid 3-point shooters in the Great Lakes Valley Conference the past two weeks.

"I just think that I’ve got my confidence back," said Teague, who entered Tuesday's game having made 11 of his past 18 attempts from 3-point range. "I play with a lot of confidence in my team, and they allow me to shoot these shots. I believe that I can knock them down."

Teague was also impressed by Kramer's debut at NKU.

"I like Mike Kramer. He played really well," Teague said. "He came in and didn’t force anything and played off of us. He’s going to be an asset to this team."

Vincent Humphrey added 12 points for NKU, which won the rebounding battle by a 44-25 margin. Kevin Schappell scored 10 points for the Norse, who held Kentucky Christian (6-11) to 33.3 percent shooting from the field. The Knights entered the game averaging 86 points per contest, but NKU's defense and size advantage prevented any such offensive outburst Tuesday night.

Steven Wright and Mark Hawkins each added eight points for NKU, with Wright dishing out four assists and collecting three steals. The Norse totaled 21 assists as a team and forced the Knights into 20 turnovers.

"It’s always good to be passing the ball like that," Teague said. "When you pass the ball around you’ll get guys that score like we had tonight."

NKU will play host to GLVC rivals Missouri-Rolla (7:45 p.m. Thursday) and Missouri-St. Louis (3:15 p.m. Saturday) later this week. NKU is 2-3 in the GLVC.

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