Feb. 22, 2007

Box Score |  Quotes

DeKalb, Ill. - Despite a double-double of 25 points and a career-high 14 rebounds from senior center James Hughes (Silvis, Ill.), Northern Illinois was unable to overcome 18 turnovers, as Toledo earned the 86-83 Mid-American Conference victory to clinch the MAC West at the NIU Convocation Center on Thursday night.

Huskie freshman guard Cody Yelder (Calumet Park, Ill.) followed Hughes with 19 points, while junior forward Zach Pancratz (Schaumburg, Ill.) posted all 13 of his tallies in the second half.

"Toledo is a very good basketball team," NIU head coach Rob Judson said. "We played well.  We've played well several times.  [The losses] are all tough.  The resiliency of these guys is impressive to me.  To come out and play the top team in the league the way we did tonight was impressive."

With the victory, Toledo improves to 15-11 overall and 11-2 in MAC play, while the Huskies fall to 6-20 on the campaign and 3-10 in conference action.

Toledo seniors Keonta Howell and Florentino Valencia each posted 16 points for the Rockets, while teammates Justin Ingram (5 rebounds) and Kashif Payne (6 assists) added 15 and 12 points respectively.

Earlier this season, NIU turned the ball over a season-high 33 times in a 76-60 loss at the hands of the Rockets. On Thursday night, the Huskies nearly cut that margin and half, but Toledo, however, still scored 21 points off of the Huskie miscues.

As a team, NIU out-shot the Rockets, knocking down 55.6% (30-of-54) of their field goal attempts and out-rebounded UT, 33-25.

The game was a hard-fought, see-saw affair that saw 16 ties and 16 lead changes, with the Huskies taking their final lead of 83-81 at the 2:05 mark following a Bristan Kelley (Lee's Summit, Mo.) lay-up.

Both teams traded turnovers before Payne knocked down a 15-footer with 52 ticks remaining to knot the game up at 83 apiece.

NIU put the ball in Yelder's hands following a Huskie timeout with 29 seconds remaining. Yelder's shot rimmed out, and Hughes' tip-in attempt went array, while Howell grabbed the defensive rebound. Howell was promptly fouled by Pancratz, sending him to the line for a pair of charity tosses.

"We wanted to open up the court and force contact," Judson said. "Coming down on the last play, we wanted to open the court to give Cody, Ryan and Mike an opportunity to beat the defense one-on-one. 

"Cody had the shot and James had the tip which was just...right there...and we certainly didn't want to foul."

Howell split his free throws giving the Rockets the 84-83 lead with 19 seconds left in regulation. The Huskies had a chance for the win as junior Ryan Paradise (Naperville, Ill.) missed a 10-foot jumper with six seconds left.

Ingram grabbed the rebound, was fouled by Yelder, and put the game away with a pair of charity tosses.

NIU is back in action on Sunday afternoon, as they travel to Mount Pleasant, Michigan to square off with Central Michigan for a 1 p.m. (CST) tip-off at Rose Arena.

                                                          --NIU--