HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. (2/16/2016) -- Sophomore Paris Bass posted his third-straight double-double and the Titan defense held Northern Kentucky to under 40.0 percent shooting as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team captured a 74-68 victory on Tuesday night at BB&T Arena.
 
The win moved Detroit to 14-12 overall and 8-7 in the Horizon League, where UDM now sits in fourth place. The win was the fifth in the last six games for the Titans, including three on the road.
 
Bass finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds for his fourth-straight 20-point game.  Sophomore Jaleel Hogan had 15 points and three boards and redshirt freshman Aaron Foster-Smith tallied 10 points.
 
Detroit never trailed in the game after starting the contest on a 12-4 run, but Northern Kentucky (9-17, 5-10 HL) cut a double-digit lead down to just two with fewer than two minutes left.
 
The Titans led by 10, 57-47, with 7:28 remaining when the Norse started to comeback, pulling within two at 65-63 at the 1:55 mark. That is when some timely free throw shooting kept the red, white and blue in front as Hogan connected on a pair. After a NKU miss, Bass made two free throws for a 69-63 lead with 40 seconds remaining.
 
NKU was able to make it a one-possession game at 69-66 with 28 seconds left, but freshman Josh McFolley hit a free throw and Bass tallied two more at the charity stripe to held keep the team in front. Bass then stole the inbounds pass and added a layup to seal the win.
 
McFolley added a team-high five assists. Senior Carlton Brundidge had six points and 11 rebounds – his second-straight game with double-digit rebounds – and senior Anton Wilson had nine points, two rebounds and two steals.
 
Detroit shot 45.1 percent from the field and was 71.4 percent at the free throw line (25-of-35). The Titans also won the rebounding total with a 42-32 advantage, including 11 on the offensive end.
 
The defense forced 12 turnovers and held Northern Kentucky to 37.3 percent (22-of-59) from the field.
 
It was a great defensive effort to start the game as the Titan defense held Northern Kentucky to just 1-of-10 from the field with a turnover in the first six minutes of the contest.
 
The Titans led 12-4 at the 14:12 mark as Wilson and Hogan had back-to-back baskets. Northern Kentucky trimmed the lead to just two, 17-15, with 9:32 left, but Foster-Smith came in to stop that charge with six-straight points, the last on a triple from the left wing to give UDM a 23-15 advantage. The next time down the floor after an NKU bucket, Wilson connected on one from long range as the Titans were ahead by nine, 26-17, with 8:07 remaining.
 
Detroit continued to stay in front and opened its largest lead of the first stanza, 37-27, as Bass had a layup, Hogan hit a free throw and Bass has another jumper at the 1:49 mark, and the red, white and blue would head into the half up by six, 38-22.
 
Detroit held NKU to just 11-of-30 shooting (36.7%), but six of those were from three to keep the Norse in the game.
 
The Titans continued to lead and opened the lead to as high as an 11-point advantage in the second half, 45-34, with 15:34 left. NKU made its first run of the game to cut it to three, 48-45, but Detroit ended that with a string of scores. Hogans, McFolley and junior Chris Jenkins had baskets and a dunk by Bass once again extended the lead to double digits at 57-47 with 7:28 remaining.
 
The Titans will come home for classes on Wednesday and Thursday before departing for a weekend trip at UIC on Friday and at league-leading Valparaiso on Sunday.
 
Game Notes:
This was just the second career meeting between the two schools… After dropping eight in a row on the road to start the year, the Titans have now won three-straight away from Calihan Hall… The Titans have now help opponents under 70 points four times in the last six games… Northern Kentucky hit 11 triples and Cole Murray was 7-of-10 against Detroit from three in the first meeting… The 10 points by Foster-Smith was the most since his season high of 22 against Michigan-Dearborn… Brundidge had a career-high 12 rebounds his last time out against Milwaukee… Bass now has 11 career 20-point games, including 10 this season and eight in Horizon League play… Bass has scored 20-point in four-straight games, the most for a Titan since Brandon Cotton did it in five0straight during 2005-06 season… Bass has three-straight double-doubles, the most since Eli Holman had three-straight during the 2010-11 campaign… McFolley had his seventh game with four or more assists and his second five-assist game in the last four contests… Hogan was in double digits for the seventh-straight game and is averaging 13.8 points during that span… Wilson's lone three give him 73 on the season, tied for ninth in school history with Rashad Phillips '99 and Jason Calliste '13 and just one away from tying Dwayne Kelley '93 and Greg Grays '01 for seventh...