KENT, Ohio – The Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team trailed by seven in the final minute but rallied to take a lead, only to fall to Kent State, 75-74, on Tuesday night at the MAC Center. Junior Aaric Armstead scored a career-high tying 22 points to pace the Huskies, who fell to 16-8 overall, 5-6 in Mid-American Conference play.
Sophomore Marin Maric scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while senior Travon Baker (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Consortium) added 12 points and a game-high seven assists.
“It was one of those games,” said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. “We kept fighting, both teams played hard but we didn’t stop playing, I’m happy with the guys that they didn’t stop playing. I thought our full-court pressure bothered them. Sometimes you need a little luck on your side and it is unfortunate because our guys played their hearts out.
“I liked how our guys fought, they fought hard. Aaric Armstead was huge with those threes (late), Travon Baker made a couple of clutch plays, but we just came up a little bit short.”
Kent State (16-8, 7-4 MAC) held a slim four-point lead, 14-10, until a jump hook from Maric cut the lead to just a pair with 11:28 to play in the opening half. A basket by the Golden Flashes pushed the lead back to four until a pair of free throws from Maric and a layup from sophomore Andrew Zelis pulled the Huskies even, 14-14, just before the midway point of the half.
After a triple from Kent State, NIU used an 8-0 run to take a 24-19 lead. Armstead opened the run with a dunk on the break, added a free throw and then converted an old-fashioned three-point play. Freshman Marshawn Wilson closed the run with a pair from the charity stripe as the Huskies took a five-point lead with 5:13 left before the intermission.
Wilson finished the contest with nine points.
Kent State pulled even with the next five, but a jumper from freshman Jaylen Key and a bank shot from Maric pushed the Huskies back in front by four, 28-24. The Golden Flashes scored the final two points of the half to cut the NIU lead to a pair, 28-26, at the break.
The Golden Flashes raced out to a 9-1 run to start the second half, taking a 35-29 lead early in the second stanza. The Kent State lead grew to 10, 43-33, until a triple from Baker and a basket by Armstead cut the lead in half, 43-38, with just under 14 minutes to play.
A triple from senior Chuks Iroegbu trimmed the Kent State lead to just four, 51-47, just past the midway point of the second half, but the Golden Flashes answered with a triple of their own on the next possession to push the lead right back to seven.
Kent State led by 11 until back-to-back layups from freshman Laytwan Porter and Key trimmed the Golden Flashes lead to seven, 60-53, just under six minutes to play.
The Huskies were unable to get any closer than seven until a triple by Armstead with 1:05 remaining cut the Kent State lead to just four, 73-69. After a Kent State turnover, Armstead buried another trifecta to cut the lead to just one, 73-72, with just under a minute to play.
NIU got a defense stop and Baker pushed the Huskies in front, 74-73, with a bucket with just 13 seconds remaining. Kent State’s Galal Cancer drove to the basket, running over Baker, and drew a block call with seven seconds remaining. Cancer made both free throws to put Kent State back in front, 75-74.
Without a timeout, the Huskies raced down the floor, Baker drew contact at the rim, but the shot didn’t fall as the Golden Flashes hung on for the win.
Khaliq Spicer led the Golden Flashes with 17 points, Cancer added 13 and Jimmy Hall recorded a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
The Huskies will return home on Saturday, Feb. 13, as they host Akron in the second half of a doubleheader at the NIU Convocation Center. Game time against the Zips is slated for 3:30 p.m.
