AKRON, Ohio -- The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team trailed by nine with just over four minutes to play before a late rally came up just short as the Huskies fell to Akron, 67-65, on Saturday at Rhodes Arena. The Zips shot 50 percent from beyond the arc in the second half as they held off the late charge from the Huskies. 

Junior Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) scored a game-high 23 points, moving into the top-10 all-time in career scoring at NIU, while senior Dante Thorpe (Washington, D.C./Triton College) added 16 points and senior Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) chipped in 14 points. 

Akron (12-8, 4-3 MAC) scored the first six to open the contest but NIU answered with the next 11 as the Huskies took a five-point lead in the opening four minutes. Thorpe scored eight of the 11 and sophomore Rod Henry-Hayes (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) added a triple to get the Huskies offense started. 

An old-fashioned three-point play from sophomore Gairges Daow (Melbourne, Australia/Victory Rock Academy) pushed the NIU lead to seven with just under 13 minutes to play in the half, 16-9. 

NIU (11-9, 4-3 MAC) led by as much as 11 in the opening 20 minutes after a corner triple by German with 9:09 to play before the intermission. 

The Huskie advantage was 10 when Akron used a 10-0 run to pull even, 24-24, with just under two minutes to play in the half. NIU scored the last four before the break on a pair of free throws from Bradley and a layup just before the horn from German as NIU took a 28-24 lead into the intermission. 

Akron scored eight of the first 10 out of the intermission as the Zips took a 32-30 lead three minutes into the second half. 

An old-fashioned three-point play by junior Noah McCarty (Rock Falls, Ill./Sterling Newman) gave the lead back to the Huskies, but Akron answered with a 14-2 run as the Zips took a 46-35 lead just before the midway point of the second half. 

Thorpe slowed the Akron run with the next six points, trimming the Zips lead back to just five, 46-41, with 7:31 left. 

The Zips matched Huskie twos with threes as the Akron lead grew back to nine with a little over four minutes to play. Akron went 14-of-35 (40 percent) from three-point range in the contest, including 10-of-20 in the second half. 

NIU scored nine-straight, five from Bradley and four by German, as the Huskies evened the contest, 54-54. 

Akron was in front by a pair before a wild sequence saw the two teams trade four-straight triples as the clock ticked under 30 seconds. The Zips made a pair of free throws to go back up four until a Bradley three with five seconds to play cut the lead back to just one. 

After a pair of free throws from Akron put the Zips back up three, the Zips fouled German with 3.2 seconds left. German made the first and missed the second intentionally, the Huskies had a tip to tie it, but the shot wouldn't go as Akron escaped with the victory. The missed tip-in was NIU's only miss in its final six shots of the contest.  

Loren Cristian Jackson scored a team-high 22 points for Akron, Daniel Utomi added 14 points and Jimond Ivey chipped in 11 points. 

NIU will return home on Tuesday, January 29, as the Huskies host Ohio in the first of three-straight home games. Tickets are available for all remaining home games from the NIU Convocation Center Box Office, by calling 815-753-PACK (7225) or by visiting NIUHuskies.com/tickets.