DEKALB, Ill. -- A 23-2 second half run helped the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team to a 73-56 victory over Akron on Saturday afternoon at the NIU Convocation Center. NIU outscored the Zips 48-22 in the second half, shooting 70 percent (21-of-30) from the field in the second 20 minutes while holding Akron to just 20 percent (5-of-25) shooting. 

Junior Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) scored a game-high 27 points, senior Dante Thorpe (Washington, D.C./Triton College) added 15 and senior Lacey James (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rider) Chipped in 10 points. 

With the win, NIU improved to 10-6 overall and a perfect 3-0 in Mid-American Conference play; Akron dropped to 9-7, 1-2 in the conference. 

"Credit Akron, their changing defenses threw us off (in the first half), it seemed like we were a step slow," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "Our guys took some tough coaching at halftime, came out and played with a lot more energy and effort in the second half. We shared the ball, our defense was outstanding and it was fun watching it. We answered the bell in the second half."

Trailing 44-40 six-and-a-half minutes into the second half, German canned a late shot clock trifecta, off a feed from freshman Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich./Novi) to bring the Huskies within one. That triple ignited a 16-0 run that put NIU in front, 56-44.

Sophomore Gairges Daow (Melbourne, Australia/Victory Rock Academy) and German traded three layups, Thorpe scored the next six and senior Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) added a jumper as the Huskies led by a dozen with just under eight minutes to play. 

Daow finished with seven points, 10 rebounds, three assists and zero turnovers off the bench while Bradley chipped in eight points. 

Following a pair of free throws by Akron, NIU scored the next seven on a dunk by junior Noah McCarty (Rock Falls, Ill./Sterling Newman) from Bradley and five more points from German to cap the 23-3 run.

Akron hit a triple to slow the NIU run, its first field goal in 11 minutes of game time, before back-to-back triples from James and German, along with a layup from James, gave the Huskies their largest lead of the night, 71-49. 

The Zips scored seven of the final nine points to trim the final margin to 17.

No players scored in double figures for Akron, with Daniel Utomi and Channel Banks each netting nine to pace the Zips. 

A pair of free throws from sophomore Zaire Mateen (Queens, N.Y./Laramie County CC) and a triple by German gave the Huskies a 17-12 lead with just over 11 minutes to play in the opening half. 

Akron answered with the next seven as the Zips regained the advantage, 19-17, just past the midway point of the opening 20 minutes. 

The Zips run reached 19-2 before baskets from Thorpe and senior Jaylen Key (Milwaukee, Wis./Homestead) ended the Akron spurt. The Zips responded with a triple and Bradley closed the half with a pair of free throws as Akron took a 34-25 lead into the intermission. 

NIU raced out of the half with a 9-2 burst to pull within a pair, 36-34, and force an early Akron timeout. German scored seven of the nine, including a triple off a hustle play by Thorpe who was the first player on the floor and fed German for the trifecta. The junior from Gary, Ind., finished with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals to go along with his game-high 27 points. 

The Huskies and Zips traded baskets until the triple late in the shot block from German that started a 16-0 run to put NIU in front for good. 

NIU will be at home again on Tuesday night, Jan. 15, when the Huskies host Central Michigan at 7 p.m. Tickets are available from the NIU Convocation Center Box Office, by calling 815-753-PACK (7225) or by visiting NIUHuskies.com/tickets.