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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - When it appeared Bellarmine might run Northern Kentucky University out of Knights Hall on Tuesday night, it was Harrison Morton who kept the Norse in the game with his ability to attack the basket and score with a variety of moves. And, fittingly enough, it was Morton who eventually made the biggest play of the evening in the closing seconds to give NKU a 67-66 come-from-behind victory over Bellarmine. After Bellarmine took a 66-65 lead on a basket by Dzaflo Larkai with 10 seconds left, Morton received the inbounds pass, drove the length of the court and challenged Bellarmine’s Adam Brames with a strong move to the basket. Morton’s contested layup with 3.2 seconds left gave NKU a 67-66 advantage. Bellarmine had a final chance, but NKU’s DeAaron Williams stole an errant pass and the Norse improved to 18-5 overall, 12-4 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Morton led NKU with 23 points, and Dennis Gagai added 18. It marked the second time this season that Morton hit a shot in the closing seconds to lift NKU to a victory on the road. On Nov. 29 at Quincy, the 6-foot-4 senior took a pass from Billy Finnell and finsihed with a basket to give the Norse a 74-73 win at Quincy. Bellarmine (16-8 overall, 10-6 GLVC) buried 10 3-pointers in the first half to build a 44-37 lead at the break, but the Knights made just one trey the remainder of the game. Bellarmine led by as many as 12 points in the first half and still owned an 11-point advantage with 18:48 remaining in the game. NKU, however, used a 25-13 run to take a 63-62 lead on a Travis Rasso basket with 5:33 left on the clock. Williams finished with nine points and five rebounds for NKU, while Rasso added seven points and five boards. The Norse shot 54.2 percent from the field and avenged a loss to the Knights 10 days earlier in Regents Hall. NKU will meet Kentucky Wesleyan on Thursday night in a GLVC East Division showdown. NKU trails East Division leader Kentucky Wesleyan by one game in the standings.
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