By Brendan Connelly
NKyTribune sports reporter
INDIANAPOLIS — The heated college basketball rivalry between Northern Kentucky and Wright State lived up to the hype when the two teams met in the championship game of the Horizon League tournament on Tuesday at Farmers Bank Arena.
The game was decided in the final seconds when Wright State guard Trey Calvin hit a pull-up jumper from the free throw line to give the Raiders a 72-71 victory and their first ticket to the NCAA Tournament since 2018.
Trevon Faulkner of NKU puts up a shot against Tanner Holden of Wright State. (Photo by Dale Dawn)
NKU coach Darrin Horn called a timeout after that basket to set up a final play, but Bryson Langdon couldn’t summon the late-game heroics as he had so many times before.
“They made a good play,” NKU sophomore guard Marques Warrick said of the game-winning basket by Calvin.
The Norse won both regular season games between the two teams and they led by as much as 16 points in the league championship game before the Raiders came storming back.
“I think tournament games are different because there’s something different on the line,” coach Horn said. “These are kind of in a category of their own.”
Calvin hit a buzzer-beating floater at the end of the first half that cut NKU’s lead to 39-32.
Warrick began the second half on a mission, scoring the first five points to open up a 44-34 lead. The sophomore guard has been on a tear over the past two months, averaging 19.4 points over 14 games.
NKU extended its lead to 57-41 with 11:41 left to play before Wright State mounted a comeback with a 16-2 scoring run. The Raiders made nine of 10 field goals during that game-changing stretch.
Trey Calvin of Wright State goes for a steal as Marques Warrick eyes the basket. (Photo by Dale Dawn)
“We were not good defensively during that stretch, and I think that affected us on the offensive end as well.” Horn said.
The final two minutes provided the most drama. NKU went on a 6-1 run and took a 71-70 lead on Warrick’s final bucket of the night to give him 28 points. That shot, of course, set up Calvin’s heroics.
Warrick was named to the all-tournament team along with Langdon, who finished with 12 points, and Trevon Faulkner, who rounded out the team’s double-digit scorers with 14.
After a tumultuous 6-9 start to the season, the Norse won 14 of their last 17 games to post a 20-12 record and came within one point of landing an NCAA tournament bid as the conference champion.
“I’m so proud of our guys. They fought their butts off all year long.” Horn said.
The leading scorers for Wright State were Calvin with 21 points, Tanner Holden with 19 and Grant Basile with 18. That trio also had a combined total of 17 rebounds for the 21-13 Raiders.
