Feb. 13, 2007

Box Score |  Quotes

DeKALB, Ill. - Ball State withstood a late Northern Illinois charge and held on for a 57-55 victory Tuesday night at the Convocation Center. Anthony Newell paced the Cardinals with a 21-point, 12-rebound output and Peyton Stovall added 17 points for the visitors.

After four ties and four first-half lead changes, BSU took a 25-24 advantage with 5:39 remaining before halftime and never trailed again. The Cardinals went ahead by as many as 10 points early in the second half despite shooting 26 percent in the game's second stanza.

The Huskies narrowed the gap to one point at 53-52 with a James Hughes layup with 3:18 to go to cap a 12-4 run, but were unable to draw any closer. With 45 seconds remaining and BSU ahead by two, NIU had a key possession with three consecutive shot attempts, but were unable to knot the game. The Huskies again had opportunities to even the game in the final 29 seconds but could not convert.

"If we had another minute or two minutes, we could have pulled it out," NIU head coach Rob Judson said. "But it's a 40 minute game. Offensively, we had some looks down the stretch that could have gone in. We had guys that had looks that wish they could have knocked it down and probably would given us another chance."

Newell's 21 points led all scorers on nine-for-18 shooting and nine of his 12 boards came on the defensive end.

Quintan Lipkins led the Huskies with 11 points and Hughes totaled six rebounds in the contest.

NIU is back in action Saturday, stepping out of conference to host the Bracket Buster contest against Wisconsin-Green Bay. Tipoff for the Huskies-Phoenix clash is set for 2 p.m.

-NIU-