ATLANTA, Ga. – Zarique Nutter (Newark, N.J./Clarendon College) tied a career-high with 22 points while David Coit (Columbus, N.J./Atlantic Cape CC) added 20 as the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team used a late 10-0 run to claim a 70-64 victory over Georgia State on Friday afternoon (Nov. 17) in the Capitol Challenge at the GSU Convocation Center. 

NIU (3-1) held Georgia State to just 30.3 percent (23-of-76) shooting from the field in a contest that featured eight ties and 13 lead changes. Nutter scored 17 of his game-high 22 in the first half while Coit had 17 of his 20 points in the second half. 

Philmon Gebrewhit (Boston, Mass./DePaul) chipped in 11 points while Harvin Ibarguen (Cali, Colombia/Seward County CC) scored seven points with a team-high nine rebounds. 

"Today was a challenge," said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. "We didn't play well as a team offensively, but defense carried us. We held a team that has averaged in the 80s to 64 (points), 30 (percent) from the field, 22 (percent) from three. But we have to do a better job offensively. I thought (Georgia State's) aggression took us out of rhythm.

"This was a team win, similar to App State. We knew going in, being at home, (Georgia State) was going to be physical. They just beat Western Michigan on the road, and they were physical, so we needed everybody to step up and I'm happy for our guys. Similar to App State, we got down, but we didn't fold."

NIU had 12 blocks in the contest, led by five from Xavier Amos (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young). NIU's 12 blocks is the most for the program since recording 14 in a season-opening win at Washington on Nov. 9, 2021. Amos' five blocks is the most by a Huskie player since Noah McCarty registered five against Eastern Michigan on March 2, 2019. 

Nutter scored nine points in the opening six minutes of the contest as the Huskies held a narrow, 13-12, advantage in the early going. 

Georgia State (1-2) scored the next six as the Panthers went in front, 18-13, with 12:24 to play before the intermission. 

The Panthers lead was still five when NIU used a 12-3 run to move in front by four, 27-23, with 7:31 left in the opening half. Nutter scored eight of the dozen for the Huskies as Gebrewhit and Ibarguen also added buckets during the run. 

After Georgia State trimmed the Huskie advantage back to just one, Ibarguen knocked in a free throw and Coit added a trifecta to put NIU in front by five, 32-27, with just over four minutes left before halftime. 

A triple from Gebrewhit gave NIU its largest lead of the half, 35-28, but Georgia State scored the last six of the half to trim the Huskie advantage to just one, 35-34, at halftime. 

Nutter led all scorers with 17 points, on 7-of-8 shooting, in the opening 20 minutes. Gebrewhit added eight for NIU while Lucas Taylor led Georgia State with 10 points. NIU shot 50 percent (13-of-26) from the field in the first half. 

Georgia State scored first in the second half to go in front, but NIU answered with the next six on baskets by Gebrewhit, Coit and Ibarguen as the Huskies led 41-36 four minutes into the second stanza. 

With the score tied at 41, Coit made back-to-back baskets to put the Huskies in front by four with 13 minutes left to play. 

An old-fashioned three-point play by Nutter gave NIU a 54-50 advantage but Georgia State scored the next five as the Panthers went back in front by one, 55-54, with a little under six minutes remaining. 

A basket by Coit with 5:24 left ignited a 10-0 Huskie run as NIU took a 64-55 lead with a little over three minutes to go. Coit added a triple during the run before Ibarguen converted a put back at the rim and Zion Russell (Upper Marlboro, Md./National Christian Academy) added three free throws as the Huskies earned their first road win of the season. 

Brenden Tucker scored 16 points off the bench to lead Georgia State, Lucas Taylor scored 12 points while Jay'Den Turner grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. 

NIU will be back in action on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 18) at 1 p.m. CT when it takes on Little Rock in the Capitol Challenge. No live video stream of Saturday's game is available but you can listen to the contest on 94.9 WDKB in DeKalb and worldwide on the NIU Huskies app and The Varsity Network app.