KENT, Ohio – Makhai Valentine (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) scored a career-high 27 points and Taj Walters (Bronx, N.Y./Moravian Prep) recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds but the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team's second half comeback attempt came up just short, as the Huskies fell, 77-73, to Kent State at the M.A.C. Center on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 3).

NIU trailed by as much as 21 points but rallied to within a pair late. Dylan Ducommun (Geneva, Switzerland) and Gianni Cobb (Chicago, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) each scored 13 points. 

Kent State (11-3, 2-0 MAC) scored the first seven points of the contest before Valentine made a bucket to get the Huskies on the board with 17:24 to play in the opening half. 

The Golden Flashes led by eight, 12-4, before scoring four-straight to push their advantage to 16-4 with 12:15 remaining in the half. Cobb then knocked in a triple to bring the Huskies back within nine.  
NIU (5-9, 1-2 MAC) trailed 22-9 when Valentine knocked in a triple and was fouled, converting the four-point play to cut the Kent State lead to 22-13. Walters then scored off an offensive rebound to bring the Huskies within seven, 22-15, with seven minutes to play before the intermission. 

The hosts answered with an 11-2 run as Kent State pushed its lead to 33-17 with a little over four minutes to play in the half. 

Kent State scored the final eight points to close the half as the Golden Flashes took a 47-26 lead into the intermission. Delrecco Gillespie scored 18 points and Rob Whaley Jr. added 14 for Kent State in the opening 20 minutes, Valentine led the Huskies with 10 points. NIU committed 15 first half turnovers that Kent State converted into 21 points. 

NIU opened the second half on a 13-0 run to climb back within eight, 47-39, with 16:23 to play. Walters opened the half with a corner triple; Valentine scored nine in the first four minutes of the second half and Ducommun had a free throw during the Huskie run. 

Valentine's fifth triple of the contest brought NIU within five, 53-48, with a little over 13 minutes to play. 

The Huskies still led by five when Kent State used a 5-1 burst to push its lead back to nine. Walters answered with another corner three to pull NIU back within a half-dozen, 60-54, with 8:26 left. 

Down 10, NIU used a 7-0 burst to pull within three, 64-61. After a bucket by Kent State, Walters knocked in another three to get the Huskies within a pair, 66-64, with 3:34 remaining. 

The Kent State lead was four, 72-68, when the Golden Flashes made a pair of free throws to extend their advantage to 74-68 with 17 seconds left. Ducommun cut the lead in half with a triple seven seconds later, bringing the Huskies within a possession. 

NIU was forced to foul, and Kent State made its free throws in the final seconds as the Golden Flashes escaped with the victory. 

The Huskies shot 52 percent (13-of-25) from the field in the second half, including 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from three, while holding the Golden Flashes to just 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from the floor, including 1-of-7 (14.3 percent) from three, but Kent State went 19-of-25 (76 percent) from the free-throw line in the second half to hold off the NIU rally. 

Gillespie finished with 28 points for Kent State, Whaley finished with 18 while Quinn Woidke added 10 points. 

NIU will return home on Tuesday, Jan. 6, when the Huskies host Toledo. Game time against the Rockets is slated for 7 p.m. and tickets are available now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets.