YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team shot 72.4 percent (21-of-29) in the first half and led wire-to-wire in an 88-67 victory over Eastern Michigan on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 21) at the George Gervin GameAbove Center. 

David Coit (Columbus, N.J.) scored a team-high 24 points, on 8-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-9 from three, with five assists, Zarique Nutter (Newark, N.J.) added 19 points, Darweshi Hunter (Cincinnati, Ohio) chipped in 16 points and Anthony Crump (Inkster, Mich.) scored 13 points as the Huskies picked up their second consecutive road win and improved to 3-3 in league play. 

Crump was 6-of-8 from the floor while Hunter was 5-of-8, including 4-of-7 from three. 

"Coming off of the Miami game, we knew that we are a pretty good ballclub when we do certain things," said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. "Share the ball, play smart, limit turnovers and rebound. Those are areas that have plagued us all year and we haven't always done to the best of our ability, but this team is resilient, they have been battle-tested, anytime you can do on the road and win two in a row, that says a lot about your ballclub."

NIU raced out to a 13-3 lead in the opening four minutes of the contest. Coit scored five while Harvin Ibarguen (Cali, Colombia) and Crump each had four as the Huskies took the early 10-point lead.  

Ibarguen finished with eight points and a game-high eight rebounds. 

In front by nine, NIU used a 7-0 burst to take a 25-9 lead with 11:20 to play in the first half. Yanic Konan Niederhauser (Fraschels, Switzerland) opened the run with a dunk, Hunter added a corner triple and Nutter finished ahead of the pack off a turnover to close the Huskie run. 

The Eagles used a 6-3 spurt to trim the Huskie lead to 13, but Crump converted back-to-back buckets at the rim as the NIU advantage grew to 32-15 with just over eight minutes to play in the first half. 

An old-fashioned three-point play from Nutter, followed by a dunk from Ibarguen, gave the Huskies a 48-25 lead, their largest of the half. Eastern Michigan answered with the next six before Kaleb Thornton (Bolingbrook, Ill.) closed the half with a jumper, giving the Huskies a 50-31 lead at the intermission. 

Coit and Nutter each scored 11 points in the opening 20 minutes to lead the way for the Huskies. NIU shot 72.4 percent (21-of-29) in the first half. It marked the first time NIU has shot better than 70 percent in a half since Jan. 23, 2018, when they shot 75.9 percent (22-of-29) against Bowling Green. 

The Huskies and Eagles traded baskets for the first eight minutes of the second half. 

After four-straight points from Eastern Michigan cut the NIU advantage to 62-45, Crump made a bucket and Nutter converted an old-fashioned three-point play, giving NIU a 67-45 lead just past the midway point of the second half. 

Eastern Michigan answered with a 9-2 run to trim the NIU lead to 15, 69-54, but Coit scored the next five as the advantage grew back to 20 with 6:53 left. 

NIU shot 59.3 percent (32-of-54) from the field in the contest, including 40 percent (10-of-25) from three. The Huskies scored 40 points in the paint, compared to just 24 for the Eagles. 

Noah Farrakhan scored a game-high 26 points to lead the way for Eastern Michigan. 

NIU will return home for a pair of games next week as it hosts Kent State on Tuesday, Jan. 24, and Ball State on Saturday, Jan. 28. Tickets are available now by logging on to NIUHuskies.com/tickets or by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at (815) 753-PACK (7225).