DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team shot 53.3 percent (16-of-30) in the second half as they closed the 2016 calendar year with a 77-62 victory over Illinois Springfield on Saturday afternoon at the NIU Convocation Center. 

The Huskies built on their three-point halftime lead with a 10-0 run to open the second stanza en route to the 15-point victory in the final non-conference game of the season. Senior Marin Maric (Split, Croatia/La Lumiere School) scored a team-high 14 points with seven rebounds, sophomore Marshawn Wilson (Oakdale, Minn./Hill-Murray) added 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting and sophomore Jaylen Key (Milwaukee, Wis./Homestead) chipped in 10 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting. 

"It took us a while to get going," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "The second half was a lot more like we want to play. We got some defensive stops, we got out in transition. We came out a little sluggish, but we got ourselves going in the second half."

NIU (8-5) went into the intermission with a 34-31 lead but quickly pushed its advantage to double digits with a 10-0 burst to open the second half. Senior Dontel Highsmith (Dowagiac, Mich./Dowagiac) scored four of the first six, sandwiched around a basket from Maric, to force an early timeout from UIS. 

Following the timeout, freshman Justin Thomas (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) added a bucket and Key ended the run with a layup as the Huskies took a 44-31 lead less than three minutes into the second half. 

Illinois Springfield trimmed the lead back to a dozen until a layup from freshman Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) and a jumper from Thomas pushed the lead to 51-35 with just under 13 minutes to play. NIU's advantage grew to as much as 17 when a jumper from Key gave the Huskies a 55-38 lead with 10:59 left. 

The Prairie Stars then cut the NIU lead back to nine with a 15-7 run, capped by a layup from Vince Walker with 6:23 remaining as the Huskie advantage shrank to 62-53. NIU answered with the next five, including a jumper from sophomore Laytwan Porter (Rockford, Ill./Auburn) and a layup by senior Aaric Armstead (Chicago, Ill./La Jolla Prep) as the Huskies ended any chance of a surprise comeback. 

Armstead finished with eight points and a game-high four assists. 

Eddie Longmeyer scored a game-high 16 points to lead Illinois Springfield; Paxton Harmon added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Prairie Stars. 

UIS got off to a good start to open the contest, leading by as much as four in the early going. A pair of triples from Wilson helped push the Huskies in front by four, 20-16, with 11:34 to play in the opening half. 

NIU's led grew to eight, its largest of the opening 20 minutes, on Wilson's third triple with just over 90 second to play before the intermission, but UIS scored the final five of the half to cut the Huskie lead to just 34-31 at the break. 

The Huskies will now turn their attention to Mid-American Conference play as NIU begins its 18-game league slate on Tuesday, Jan. 3, as they travel to Oxford, Ohio, to meet Miami. Game time against the RedHawks is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and will be available on ESPN3.