CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team shot just 29.6 percent (16-of-54) from the field as it fell at Eastern Illinois, 72-59, on Friday afternoon (Nov. 29) at Groniger Arena. James Dent Jr. (Springfield, Ill./Springfield Southeast) led the Huskies with 20 points and a career-best nine rebounds. 

Eastern Illinois (2-5) used a 42-10 advantage in points in the paint and a 19-0 edge in second chance points to claim the victory. The Panthers outrebounded the Huskies, 45-29. 

A free throw from Quentin Jones (Chicago, Ill./Marian Catholic) and a triple by Nasir Muhammad (Brooklyn, N.Y/Xaverian) gave NIU a 7-4 lead in the early going. Eastern Illinois answered with the next six to take a three-point lead before Jones finished at the rim to bring the Huskies back within one, 10-9, with just under 12 minutes to play in the opening half. 

Jones finished with 11 points, going 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. As a team, the Huskies finished 16-of-17 (94.1 percent) from the charity stripe. 

Tied at 12, Kailon Nicholls (Toronto, Ontario/Hargrave Military Academy) knocked in a triple from the wing, NIU's fourth of the half, to give the Huskies a three-point lead with 8:24 to play before the intermission. 

A trifecta from Dent put NIU in front, 18-14, before an 8-0 run by Eastern Illinois gave the Panthers a four-point advantage, 22-18, with five minutes left in the opening stanza. 

NIU (2-5) was within a pair following two free throws from Quaran McPherson (South Jamaica Queens, N.Y./Link Year Prep), but Eastern Illinois used a 7-0 burst to take the largest lead of the half, 31-22. A bucket from McPherson trimmed the Panther advantage to 31-24 at the break. 

Kooper Jacobi led all scorers with 10 points in the opening half, McPherson and Muhammad each had six to pace the Huskies. Eastern Illinois shot 34.4 percent (11-of-32) in the first 20 minutes while NIU shot 26.9 percent (7-of-26). 

The Eastern Illinois lead grew to 11 as the Panthers scored the first four points of the second half. A pair of trifectas from Tsvet Sotirov (Rolling Meadows, Ill./Rolling Meadows) and a triple from Dent helped trim the EIU lead to a half-dozen, 39-33, but Eastern Illinois answered with a three of its own to push the lead to nine with 14:45 to play. 

Sotirov finished with nine points on 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. 

Eastern Illinois increased its advantage to a dozen, 47-35. 

The Panther lead was still 12 went Dent converted an old-fashioned three-point play and Muhammad spun past his defender for a layup, cutting the Eastern Illinois lead to 62-55 with 4:21 left. 

Eastern Illinois scored the next five however, as the Panther lead once again went to a dozen, 67-55, with just under two minutes to play, ending any hopes of a Huskie comeback. 

Nakyel Shelton finished with 26 points for Eastern Illinois to lead all scorers, Jacobi added 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Panthers. 

The Huskies went 11-of-37 (29.7 percent) from three-point range, setting a new school record for three-point attempts in a game, breaking the previous mark of 35, set three times, most recently against Illinois Springfield on Nov. 7, 2022. 

NIU will return home on Tuesday, Dec. 3, when the Huskies host Benedictine at 6 p.m. Tickets for that contest, and all remaining NIU Basketball games, are available now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets or by calling (815) 753-PACK (7225).