Highland Heights, Kentucky – Cleveland State (3-7, 0-1 Horizon League) dropped its Horizon League opener with Northern Kentucky (7-2, 1-0 Horizon League) on Wednesday night at Truist Arena.

Senior guard Jaidon Lipscomb (Columbus, Ohio) led the Vikings with a career-high 23 points. Lipscomb went 3-of-8 from the field, all from behind the three-point line, and knocked down 14-of-15 free throws.

Senior guard Tre Beard (Chillicothe, Ohio) added 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting, hitting a season-best 6-of-8 from behind the arc. Beard added a team-high five assists and pulled down four rebounds.

Junior guard David Giddens (Atlanta, Georgia) poured in a season-high 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, all in the second half. Giddens added a team-high five rebounds. Sophomore forward Holden Pierre-Louis (Potomac, Maryland) also had a team-high five boards.

As a team, Cleveland State shot 22-of-48 (45.8%) from the floor and a season-best 14-of-25 (56.0%) from the three-point line. NKU was 34-of-61 (59.2%) from the field and 13-of-27 (48.1%) from deep.

NKU jumped out to a 9-0 lead to start the game, and the Norse lead hovered around nine until stretching it to 14 at the 4:35 mark, the same margin that NKU would lead at the half, 47-33.

Cleveland State started the second half on a 14-2 run to cut the lead to 49-47 with 16:40 remaining in the game. CSU was able to grab the lead after three made free throws by Lipscomb at the 14:29 mark, 52-51. NKU grabbed the lead back at the 13:31 mark and did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game.

Cleveland State will continue Horizon League play on Saturday, Dec. 6 when they take on Detroit at home. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. on ESPN+ and WTAM 1100. Tickets are available at CSUVikings.com/Tickets.