ELON, N.C. – Elon scored the final nine points of the contest as the Phoenix topped the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team, 85-79, on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 13) at the Schar Center. The Phoenix erased an 11-point second half deficit as they shot 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the field in the second 20 minutes. 

Makhai Valentine (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) led the way for NIU with his first double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Gustav Winther (Roskilde, Denmark) just missed a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds while Dylan Ducommun (Geneva, Switzerland) and Jao Ituka (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) each added 12 points. 

NIU (3-7) knocked in its first three triple tries of the contest as the Huskies led 11-4 in the early going. Hassan 'Tre' Washington (Providence, R.I./Prise Academy), Valentine and Daemar Kelly (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) all connected from beyond the arc in the opening three minutes. 

Elon answered with the next eight as the Phoenix moved in front by one, 12-11, with 16:22 to play in the first half. 

A 12-2 run helped NIU open up a 28-21 lead with 11:28 left in the half. Ducommun opened the burst with a triple, Ituka added three free throws before Winther scored the next three and Ituka knocked in a triple to give the Huskies the seven-point lead. 

Elon (6-4) responded with seven of the next nine as the Phoenix trimmed the NIU lead back to just a pair, 30-28, with a little over eight minutes left in the half. 

Winther scored eight consecutive points for the Huskies led 42-37 with 4:02 remaining before the intermission. 

The Huskies scored the final six points of the half to take a 48-41 lead into the break. Winther led all scorers with 12 points, Ducommun added 10 for NIU while Randall Pettus II paced Elon with eight. NIU shot 47.1 percent (16-of-34) from the field in the opening 20 minutes while Elon shot 48.1 percent (13-of-27), but the Huskies were 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) from three while holding the Phoenix to just 2-of-12 (16.7 percent). 

Valentine scored 10 points in the opening five minutes of the second half as the Huskies built a 62-51 lead with 15:10 to play. 

When Ituka knocked in NIU's 11th triple of the contest, the Huskie lead was 70-59 with 9:49 remaining. 

A 9-1 Elon burst brought the Phoenix within three, 74-71, with 6:17 left. 

The Phoenix cut the NIU advantage to just one, 77-76, with a pair of free throws with 2:53 to go. Ducommun then answered with a pair at the charity stripe as the Huskie lead went back to three. 

Elon pulled even at 79 with a free throw with 1:59 remaining and the Phoenix took their first lead of the second half, 81-79, out of a timeout with a dunk with 1:16 left. After the Phoenix got a defensive stop, Elon converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 31 seconds left to push their lead to 84-79. 

One more free throw gave Elon the six-point win as the Phoenix held NIU to just one of its last 13 from the field, holding the Huskies scoreless over the final 2:38 of the contest. 

Kacper Klaczek finished with 23 points to lead the way for Elon, Chandler Cuthrell added 21 points while Pettus finished with 13 for the Phoenix. 

The Huskies will now return home for three consecutive contests to close the calendar year. NIU will host East-West University on Tuesday, Dec. 16, before opening league play at home against Central Michigan on Saturday, Dec. 20, and Buffalo on Tuesday, Dec. 30. Tickets for all remaining NIU basketball games are available at NIUHuskies.com/tickets.