DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team erased a 10-point halftime deficit before falling to Cal Poly, 68-64, on Wednesday night in the NIU Thanksgiving Classic at the NIU Convocation Center. Senior Marin Maric (Split, Croatia/La Lumiere School) scored a team-high 14 points to pace the Huskies. 

"It was a tale of two halves," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "If we had played the first half like we played the second half we probably would have liked the result. I liked the way we came out in the second half, down 10 points, and got right back in the game. I thought their zone bothered us, because we weren't patient and didn't move the basketball. We did in the second half and we scored 43 points.

"It was disappointing that it was another game where our bigs were in foul trouble. We need Marin Maric on the floor, he picked up two quick ones and we are a different team with him on the floor."

NIU shot 60.9 percent (14-of-23) from the field in the second half after shooting just 25.9 percent (7-of-27) in the first half. Senior Aaric Armstead (Chicago, Ill./La Jolla Prep) was the second Huskie in double figures with 11 points and a team-high six rebounds. 

After Cal Poly took a 31-21 lead into the intermission, NIU raced out of the gates in the second half, using a 15-5 run to pull even with just over 13 minutes to play. Maric, who played just seven minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, scored eight during the burst as the Huskies tied the contest, 36-36. 

Still tied just past the midway point of the second half, sophomore Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) made a basket to give the Huskies their first leadoff the second half, 42-40, and following a turnover by the Mustangs, a triple by Armstead pushed the NIU advantage to five with 8:46 left. 

The NIU lead grew to as much as six on a triple from sophomore Austin Pauga (Naperville, Ill./IMG Academy), but Cal Poly quickly answered with six-straight points to tie the game, 51-51, with 6:48 remaining. 

Cal Poly led by one with just over a minute left when Josh Mishler buried a triple to push the Mustang lead to four, 64-60. NIU answered with a layup from Maric to trim the lead to just a pair and, following a defensive stop, the Huskies had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead with less than 20 seconds to go, but NIU turned the ball over. 

The Mustangs went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line in the final seconds to seal the victory. 

Four players scored in double figures for the Mustangs, led by 19 points off the bench from Victor Joseph; Ridge Shipley added 15 points, Kyle Toth chipped in 12 and Mishler added 10 as Cal Poly finished the night shooting 51.1 percent (24-of-47) as a team, including 50 percent (11-of-22) from three. 

NIU led by as much as four in the early going as a layup by freshman Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) gave the Huskies a 12-8 lead. Cal Poly responded with an 8-2 burst to move in front.

The Mustangs led by one, 20-19, after a free throw from Armstead with 3:12 left before halftime, but Cal Poly then used a 9-0 run to take a 10-point lead in the final minute of the opening stanza. Armstead ended the run with a pair of free throws but Joseph closed the half with a jumper to push the Mustang lead back to 10 at the break, 31-21. 

NIU will return to action on Friday, Nov. 25, when the Huskies host Elon at 1 p.m., on the second day of the NIU Thanksgiving Classic. The Phoenix defeated UIC, 91-80, in the first game of the tournament on Wednesday afternoon.