DEKALB, Ill. – Trailing by 16 at halftime, the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team fought back to within five but couldn't complete the comeback as the Huskies fell to Northern Iowa, 64-54, in their regular season opener on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 9) at the NIU Convocation Center. Senior Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) scored game-high 21 points but the Huskies were unable to overcome Northern Iowa's 50 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes. 

Senior Lacey James (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rider) grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, his 10th career double-figure rebounding contest. 

"It was a hard-fought game, definitely not the result that we wanted but our team showed some character," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "When you get down by 20 and with four or five minutes to go it is a five-point game, we had our chance. I thought we ran out of gas. Credit Northern Iowa, especially (Isaiah) Brown, he shot the ball well … They were very efficient in the first half, that helped them get the lead, and they made plays down the stretch."

Northern Iowa (2-0) led by one, 13-12, when back-to-back baskets from James Betz helped push the Panthers lead to five, 17-12, with just over 11 minutes to play in the opening half. 

A triple from German brought the Huskies back within a pair, but Northern Iowa answered with the next nine, ignited by a pair of triples from Noah Carter, to give the Panthers a 26-15 lead with 7:08 to play before the intermission. 

NIU (0-1) scored the next five on a layup from sophomore Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich./Novi) and a triple by German to trim the Northern Iowa advantage to a half-dozen, but Northern Iowa used a 10-0 run to push its lead to 36-20 with 3:12 to play in the half. 

Hankerson finished with nine points and five rebounds. 

Junior Rod Henry-Hayes (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) knocked down a triple to end the Northern Iowa run but the Panthers took a 40-24 lead into the intermission. 

Henry-Hayes scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds. 

German led all scorers with 13 in the opening half, Isaiah netted 11 first half points for Northern Iowa. The Panthers shot 50 percent (16-of-32) in the opening 20 minutes, including 5-of-12 (41.7 percent) from three-point range. 

The Northern Iowa lead was 20 early in the second half when NIU went on a 9-0 run. Henry-Hayes opened the burst with a basket, junior Zaire Mateen (Queens, N.Y./Laramie County Community College) scored the next four and Hankerson knocked in a trifecta, cutting the Northern Iowa lead to 48-37 and forcing a Panther timeout.

A pair of free throws halted the NIU run, but the Huskies then used an 8-2 burst to get within five with just under eight minutes to play. German made a pair of layups; junior Nathan Scott (Naperville, Ill./Olney Central College) added a basket and Hankerson scored on a put-back to trim the Northern Iowa lead to 52-47. 

The two teams traded baskets before a five-point Panther burst stretched the Northern Iowa advantage to 62-51 with three minutes left, ending any hopes of a Huskie comeback. 

Brown led Northern Iowa with 17 points, AJ Green and Tywhon Pickford each added nine points for the Panthers. 

NIU will return to action on Tuesday night, November 12, when the Huskies travel to Ames, Iowa to meet Iowa State. Tipoff against the Cyclones is scheduled for 7 p.m.