BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team made numerous second half runs to pull close but Bowling Green had an answer each time as the Falcons outlasted the Huskies, 84-77, on Tuesday night (Feb. 4) at the Stroh Center. 

Quentin Jones (Chicago, Ill./Marian Catholic) scored a team-high 19 points, Quaran McPherson (South Jamaica Queens, N.Y./Link Year Prep) had 18, including 4-of-8 from three, while James Dent Jr. (Springfield, Ill./Springfield Southeast) added 14 points and Ethan Butler (Toronto, Ontario/Southwest Academy) chipped in 10. 

"Our inability to rebound and our start were a problem today," said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. "We talked to the guys about coming out starting fast, you don't want to start out running uphill, especially on the road. We have to do a better job of starting better and then we were uncharacteristic with our turnovers tonight."

Bowling Green (8-14, 3-7 MAC) jumped out to a 13-4 start to open the contest as the Falcons made three triples in the opening three-plus minutes.

A seven-point burst helped NIU close the gap to just a pair, 15-13. Butler and Jones made buckets, sandwiched around a triple from McPherson. The Falcons answered with the next six as they pushed the lead to 21-13 with 11:50 to play in the half. 

Kailon Nicholls (Toronto, Ontario/Hargrave Military Academy) scored the next five to bring NIU within three before Bowling Green answered with five to go in front, 26-18. Muhammad then scored the next five as the Huskies trimmed the Falcon advantage to 26-23 with 7:20 left before the intermission. 

Bowling Green pushed its lead was eight before a bucket from Dent and a pair of free throws by Butler brought NIU within four, 35-31. The Falcons hit a corner triple as the horn sounded to end the half as they took a 38-31 advantage into the intermission. 

Marcus Johnson led all scorers with 15 points for Bowling Green, Butler and Muhammad each had six to pace NIU. Bowling Green had eight offensive rebounds in the first half and held a 14-2 edge in second chance points. 

An alley-oop to Butler and a layup from Jones had the Huskies within four, 48-44, early in the second half, but Bowling Green responded with the next seven as the Falcons led 55-44 with 13:07 to play.

Jones made a pair of free throws and McPherson knocked in his third triple to bring NIU back within a half-dozen, 55-49. 

McPherson extended the Huskie run to 10-0 with five more points to bring NIU within one, 55-54, with 11:08 left. 

Bowling Green's lead grew to seven before a basket by McPherson, followed by a steal and coast-to-coast layup for Muhammad, trimmed the Falcon advantage to 66-63 with five minutes remaining. 

Muhammad finished with eight points. 

Once again, the Falcons had an answer as they scored the next eight, extending the lead to 74-63 with just under 90 seconds to play, putting the contest out of reach.

Johnson finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds to pace Bowling Green. Trey Thomas added 17 points, while DaJion Humphrey scored 11 and Javonte Campbell had 10 points. The Falcons finished the game with a 20-4 edge in second chance points. 

NIU will return home on Saturday, Feb. 8, when the Huskies host the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the MAC/Sun Belt Challenge at 1 p.m. at the NIU Convocation Center. Tickets are available now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets or by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at (815) 753-PACK (7225).