DEKALB, Ill. -- Senior Lacey James (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rider) scored a team-high 17 points to lead five Huskies in double figures as the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team opened the season with a 93-54 victory over Rockford University on Tuesday night at the NIU Convocation Center.

Senior Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Jaylen Key (Milwaukee, Wis./Homestead) added 15 points, junior Noah McCarty (Rock Falls, Ill./Sterling Newman) chipped in 14 while senior Anastasios Demogerontas (Orland Park, Ill./Moraine Valley Community College) scored 10 points. 

NIU shot 61.7 percent (37-of-60) from the field in the contest and dished out 20 assists, including six from junior Alize Travis (Victorville, Calif./Pima Community College) 

"I'm happy with the final score, the objective is to win and we scored 93 points," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "I'm happy with 20 assists … we shot over 60 percent, so we did some things well and there are things we can work on. We have to defend without fouling, you have to take care of the basketball.

"We had five or six guys in double figures, our post players were dominant, we shared the basketball. I thought our guys came out and played hard, we did enough to take care of business tonight."

Leading 7-6 in the early going, the Huskies turned up the defense and went on a 10-0 run to push their lead to 17-6 with 12:27 to play in the half. James opened the burst with a layup on the break, Travis added a jumper in the lane before back-to-back dunks from Demogerontas and Richie. McCarty capped the run with a layup. 

Another 10-0 burst for NIU pushed the NIU lead to 35-15 with 2:26 to play in the half. Richie opened the spurt with a triple just before the shot clock off a skip pass from James. Demogerontas and sophomore Gairges Daow (Melbourne, Australia/Victory Rock Academy) each added baskets before McCarty knocked down a triple from the top of the key as the NIU lead grew to 20.

Rockford trimmed the NIU advantage to 41-25 at the break. Nine Huskies scored in the opening 20 minutes, led by eight points from Lacey James, and NIU shot 60 percent (18-of-30) from the field in the first half. 

The Huskies led by 16 six minutes into the second half when NIU used another 10-0 run to take a 61-35 lead with 11:44 to play. James made a layup to ignite the burst for the Huskies, followed by a layup from Demogerontas and an old-fashioned three-point play by Richie. McCarty made a free throw and sophomore Rod Henry-Hayes (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) made a layup as the Huskie advantage ballooned to 26. 

NIU shot 63.3 percent (19-of-30) from the field in the second half; James had nine of his 17 in the second stanza and McCarty also scored nine of his 14 after the intermission. 

Tony Diemer led Rockford with 12 points in the contest, Jeremiah Stewart added nine for the Regents. 

NIU will be back in action on Friday night, November 9, when the Huskies host defending Horizon League champion Northern Kentucky. Tipoff against the Norse is scheduled for 6 p.m.