815-561-8255 Request Line
Watch LIVE High School Sports

Upcoming Events

Friday, Mar 22, 10:00 AM
Saturday, Mar 23, 11:00 AM
Saturday, Mar 23, 6:15 PM
Saturday, Mar 30, 8:00 AM
Saturday, Mar 30, 10:45 AM

Social Media

Find us on Facebook Follow us on X















NIU wins 15th straight home game

DEKALB, Ill. -- Senior Travon Baker  scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed a team-best nine rebounds as the Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team defeated Toledo, 58-49, on Friday night at the NIU Convocation Center to complete the season sweep of the Rockets.

Baker also recorded a pair of steals to tie Ronald Minter (1993-97) for the school-record with 163 career takeaways as the Huskies improved to 16-3 overall, 5-1 in conference play.

Junior Aaric Armstead  and freshman Levi Bradley each added 12 points as NIU won its 15th consecutive home game dating back to last season.

“Our team is built on defense and rebounding,” said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. “If you look at the stats before the game, Toledo is number one in all the offensive categories and we are number one or two in the defensive categories. I love offense, but you can have off-nights on offense, you can’t have off-nights on defense, because that is all energy and effort, there is no skill involved. I thought our guys did a great job locking them down and we did enough offensively to win the game.”

After a triple by Baker pulled the Huskies even, 10-10, in the early going, Toledo used a 9-0 to take a 19-10 lead with 7:40 to play in the opening half.

A basket by Bradley stopped the Rocket run and sparked an 11-4 burst for the Huskies that pulled NIU within a pair, 23-21, with just under four minutes to play in the half. Bradley added a triple during the burst and Armstead scored the final four of the run to bring the Huskies within a possession.

Nathan Boothe pushed the Toledo lead to four with a bucket until Baker canned back-to-back triples to give the Huskies a two-point lead, 27-25. Toledo answered with a basket to pull even before freshman Marshawn Wilson  scored the final two points of the half as the Huskies took a 29-27 lead into the intermission.

Baker led all scorers with 12 points in the opening 20 minutes; Boothe and Nick Rogers each had eight to pace the Rockets. Saddled with three first half fouls, sophomore Marin Maric  scored just two points in nine minutes in the first half. Maric finished with just four points as his streak of double figure scoring games ended at 14.

Bradley ignited the Huskies out of the intermission, scoring seven of the first nine for NIU as the Huskies opened with a 9-2 run to take a 38-29 lead.

Toledo answered with the next seven to cut the Huskie lead to just a pair, 38-36, just before the midway point of the half.

The NIU lead was five after a free throw from senior Chuks Iroegbu  and Baker then doubled the Huskie advantage with two more trifectas as the Huskies took a 49-38 lead with 4:36 left.

Baker finished with six triples in the contest, one shy of his career high set two weeks ago in a win over Eastern Michigan.

The Rockets had one more run in them, using an 8-2 spurt to pull within five, 51-46, but NIU scored the next five, three from the free-throw line by Baker and two on a driving layup from junior Michael Orris (Crete, Ill./Crete-Monee/Kansas State) as the Huskie lead went back to 10 and thwarted any hopes of a Toledo comeback.

Boothe led the Rockets with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, no other players scored in double figures for Toledo.

NIU will play four of its next five on the road, beginning on Tuesday, Jan. 26, as the Huskies travel to Akron, Ohio to meet the Zips. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.

Comments

Download the App Today!

Download the Apple app today
Download the Google Play app today
Closings and Cancellations
Copyright © 2024 Superhits 93.5. All Rights Reserved.
Public File
FCC Applications
Site by RiverBender.com