DEKALB, Ill. -- Senior Aaron Armstead scored a game-high 15 points, but the Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team fell, 60-55, to Miami (Ohio) on Saturday afternoon at the NIU Convocation Center. Senior Anthony Johnson added 12 points for the Huskies.
“Both teams came out and played hard, we knew it was going to be a dogfight,” said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. “I thought we settled for too many three-point shots and unfortunately we didn’t shoot the ball well enough at the free-throw line when we did get there.
“We took care of the ball, I thought we defended well enough to win the game but it was another one of those games decided in the last five minutes. We tell our guys all the time that there are going to be 11 or 12 of those games a year and you have to find a way to win, unfortunately we just didn’t do it today.”
The Huskies shot just 16.7 percent (5-of-30) from the three-point line and just 64 percent (16-of-25) from the free-throw line.
Miami (7-12, 2-4 MAC) jumped out to a quick start, scoring the first seven points of the contest. NIU answered with a 13-6 burst to even the game, 13-13, capped by a triple from junior Chuks Iroegbu, midway through the opening half.
Iroegbu finished with seven points on 2-of-2 shooting and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.
The RedHawk lead climbed back to as much as five, but an old-fashioned three-point play by senior Pete Rakocevic cut the Miami lead to just a pair, 29-27, at the intermission.
Aaron Armstead had seven first half points to pace the Huskies; Will Sullivan had seven points to lead Miami in the opening 20 minutes.
NIU (8-9, 2-4 MAC) took its first lead of the night three minutes into the second half as a layup by junior Darrell Bowie (Milwaukee, Wis./La Jolla Prep) gave the Huskies a 35-33 advantage. Bowie, playing in his first game back after missing five due to injury, scored seven points and grabbed a team-best six rebounds.
With the game tied, 43-43, with 7:37 to play, Miami used a five-point burst to take a 48-43 lead. Sullivan knocked down a triple and Chris Bryant made a pair of free throws as the RedHawks took their largest lead of the second half.
Still trailing by five with under four minutes to play, Johnson buried a trifecta and then made a jumper to pull the Huskies even, 54-54, with just over two minutes remaining.
A layup by Eric Washington pushed Miami back in front before both teams came up empty on multiple possessions as the RedHawks took the two-point lead into the final minute.
NIU spilt a pair of free throws with 37 seconds to play and Miami answered with two of its own from the charity stripe, extending the lead to 58-55 with 21 seconds left. Following a turnover by the Huskies, Miami made two more free throws to finish the five-point road win.
Sullivan led Miami with 14 points; Washington added 12 and six assists while Logan McLane chipped in 11 points.
NIU will return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 27, as they Huskies travel to Bowling Green to face the Falcons. Game time at Bowling Green is slated for 6 p.m. CT.
