Nov. 4, 2011
Final Stats
Carthage 74, Northern Illinois 70
NIU Convocation Center | DeKalb, Ill.
|
|
|
1st |
2nd |
OT |
Final |
Northern Illinois
|
32 |
32 |
6 |
70 |
Carthage
|
19 |
45 |
10 |
74
|
|
|
|
| Player of the Game |
 |
Abdel Nader
Points: 18
Rebounds: 11
|
|
Team Stats
|
NIU |
OPP |
| FG Percentage |
32.3 |
42.9 |
| 3-Point FG Percentage |
19.0 |
41.9 |
| FT Percentage |
75.0 |
46.7 |
| Offensive Rebounds |
18 |
12 |
| Defensive Rebounds |
30 |
27 |
| Total Rebounds |
48 |
39 |
| Assists |
8 |
10 |
| Turnovers |
17 |
18 |
| Blocks |
2 |
10 |
| Steals |
8 |
12 |
| Points in the Paint |
18 |
18 |
| Points off Turnovers |
9 |
14 |
|
|
| |
DEKALB, Ill. -- The Northern Illinois men's basketball team fell, 74-70, in overtime to Carthage College in exhibition action on Friday evening at the NIU Convocation Center. Carthage connected on 13 three-pointers in the contest and shot 69.2 percent (9-of-13) from beyond the arc in the second half.
Freshman wing Abdel Nader (Skokie, Ill./Niles North) lead the Huskies with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Senior forward Tim Toler (Indianapolis, Ind./Avon/Danville Area CC) added 17 points and seven rebounds while sophomore guard Aksel Bolin (Asker, Norway/Asker) chipped in 10 points in a game that featured six ties and 10 lead changes.
"We just didn't come out ready to go in the second half," NIU head coach Mark Montgomery said. "We have a young team, there were times when we had four or five freshmen on the floor, so we will take this as a learning experience and we have to get better."
Trailing 61-60 with just over three minutes to play in the second half, freshman Keith Gray (Chicago, Ill/Brooks Academy) finished at the rim to give the Huskies a one-point lead. Nader pushed the NIU lead to three on a pair of free throws with 1:46 to play in regulation before Malcolm Kelly drained a three with 46 remaining to force overtime.
In the extra session, the two teams traded free throws before a pair of triples put Carthage up by six, 72-66. An old-fashioned three-point play by redshirt sophomore Antone Christian (Nashville, Tenn./Martin Luther King Magnet) brought NIU within three, 73-70, but that was as close as the Huskies would get.
Max Cary scored a game-high 20 to lead Carthage. Luke Johnson added 19 points and Kelly had 16 for the Red Men.
Carthage jumped out to an early 10-0 lead before Nader sparked 16-2 response with a 10-foot jumper with 15:43 to play in the first half. Six different Huskies scored during the run, including a triple from freshman guard Zach Miller (Chicago, Ill/Glenbard East).
After a basket by Carthage, freshman wing DeAndre Barnette (Jackson, Tenn./Liberty Tech) ignited a 12-2 burst for NIU with a triple from the corner. Toler added an old-fashioned three-point play and freshman guard Marquavese Ford (Saginaw, Mich./Saginaw) knocked down a trifecta as the Huskies took a 28-16 lead with 3:48 remaining in the first half.
A floater from Miller gave NIU a 32-19 lead, an edge they would take to the intermission. The Huskies shot 44.8 percent from the floor (13-of-29) in the opening 20 minutes while holding Carthage to just 26.7 percent shooting (8-of-30).
Toler scored the first two points of the second half, but Carthage responded with a 10-0 run to cut the Huskie lead to 34-29 with 17 minutes left, forcing a NIU timeout.
"They came out in the second half and made shots, you have to give them credit," Montgomery said. "What happens is you give a team confidence when they make shots and them all of the sudden they become better defenders. I don't think we found a rhythm in the second half offensively."
Carthage used a trio of three-pointers to take a 38-37 lead, but Bolin responded with a triple from the left wing to swing the lead back to the Huskies with 14:55 to play.
Even at 44 with 11 minutes remaining, the Red Men connected on a pair of three-pointers in an 8-1 run to lead 52-45 with just under nine minutes left.
Down by five, 58-53, with 5:33 remaining, the Huskies rattled off seven-straight points, five from the charity stripe, to take a two-point lead before a Kelly triple with 3:35 gave Carthage a 61-60 advantage.
The Huskies shot 75 percent (24-of-32) from the free-throw line, including 17-of-20 (85 percent) in the second half.
NIU will open the 2011-12 regular season next Friday, Nov. 11, as the Huskies travel to West, Lafayette, Ind., to take on Purdue. Game time against the Boilermakers is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and the contest will be shown live on ESPN3.
