DEKALB, Ill. -- Four players scored in double figures, led by 27 points from
David Coit (Columbus, N.J./Atlantic Cape CC), as the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team topped App State, 91-78, on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 11) in the home opener at the NIU Convocation Center.
Zarique Nutter (Newark, N.J./Clarendon College) added 19 points,
Philmon Gebrewhit (Boston, Mass./DePaul) chipped in 18 and
Yanic Konan Niederhauser (Fraschels, Switzerland/Ursping) added 11 points.
NIU shot 50 percent (29-of-58) from the field in the contest, including 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from three-point range and 82.8 percent (24-of-29) from the free-throw line.
"Today was a program win," said NIU head coach
Rashon Burno. "We knew coming out of Marquette that we were a better team than we showed in the first half. We led this game for 35 minutes, after the 8-2 run by (App State) to start, we led this game, and that is a really good program, went to the NCAA Tournament two years ago, were picked second in their league. That's a really good win for us.
"This is a big win, happy for the guys, happy for the program, the Convocation Center had energy, and its something we have to build on."
After falling behind by six in the early going, NIU used a 20-5 run to take a 22-13 lead just before the midway point of the opening half. Coit scored 10 points during the run, including a pair of triples, as the Huskies erased the early deficit and built a nine-point lead.
Coit finished with six assists to go along with his game-high 27 points.
Following an old-fashioned three-point play for App State, the Huskies went on an 11-1 spurt, including five points from Gebrewhit, to take their largest lead of the first half, 32-17, with seven minutes left before the break.
App State cut the NIU advantage back to eight before Konan Niederhauser scored the final four points of the half to give the Huskies a 48-36 lead at the intermission. NIU shot 54.5 percent (18-of-33) from the field in the first half.
Coit led all scorers with a dozen in the opening 20 minutes, Nutter added 10 for the Huskies while CJ Huntley scored 10 to pace the visitors.
The Huskies started quick in the second half as they built an 18-point lead, 59-41, on a pair of free throws by Nutter four minutes into the second stanza.
App State then went on a 15-0 run to cut the Huskie advantage to just three, 59-56, with 9:32 to play. Gebrewhit knocked in a trifecta to push the NIU lead to six and ignite a 14-1 burst for the Huskies as the lead grew back to 16. Coit,
Ethan Butler (Toronto, Ontario/Oregon) and Nutter each added buckets during the run, Gebrewhit made a pair of free throws and Coit went 3-of-3 from the charity stripe to give NIU a 73-56 lead with just under six minutes left to play.
Donovan Gregory scored a team-high 17 points to lead the way for App State, Christopher Mantis added 16, Huntley finished with 14 and Justin Abson scored 11 points.
"It's an unbelievable opportunity to play an opponent we typically wouldn't, unless it was a home-and-home," said Burno about the MAC/Sun Belt Challenge. "To play a team of this caliber early, they have high expectations, they are picked in the top-two in their league. It was a good challenge for us, this was a quality win for us."
NIU will be back in action on Monday, Nov. 13, when the Huskies host Illinois Tech. Tipoff against the Scarlet Hawks is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Tickets for all Huskie basketball games are on sale now, including season tickets, which start at just $80 for general admission season tickets in sections 115-118 (lower bowl baseline) with reserved lower bowl sideline season tickets available for just $120. NIU faculty and staff, NIU Alumni Association and Varsity Club members, and senior citizens can purchase men's basketball season tickets for $105.
