Quentin Jones (Chicago, Ill./Marian Catholic) netted a new career-high 27 points but the Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team fell to Illinois State, 81-60, on Wednesday night (Dec. 18) at CEFCU Arena.

NIU (3-8) trailed by just seven six minutes into the second half before the shorthanded Huskies, playing with just seven scholarship players, ran out of gas against the Redbirds.

Illinois State (7-4) shot 50 percent (30-of-60) from the field in the contest, including 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from three-point range.

A short jumper from Kailon Nicholls (Toronto, Ontario/Hargrave Military Academy) had the Huskies within a pair in the early going, but Illinois State used a 7-2 burst to take a 13-6 lead with just over 13 minutes to play in the opening half.

Nicholls finished with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

Illinois State’s lead grew to 10 before a bucket from Joe Munden Jr. (Harlem, N.Y./Monsignor Scanlan) ignited a 7-3 burst for NIU. Jones netted the next five for the Huskies as the visitors trimmed the lead to a half-dozen, 21-15.

After the Redbirds pushed their advantage to a dozen, Nicholls made a corner jumper and Tsvet Sotirov (Rolling Meadows, Ill./Rolling Meadows) knocked in a triple to get the Huskies back within seven, 30-23, with a little under four minutes to play before the intermission.

James Dent Jr. (Springfield, Ill./Springfield Southeast) made a pair of free throws to extend the NIU run and bring the Huskies within five, but Illinois State closed with six of the final nine points to take a 36-28 lead into halftime.

Jones had 10 points to lead all scorers in the opening 20 minutes, Nicholls added eight for NIU. Johnny Kinziger had nine points to pace the Redbirds. Illinois State shot 55.6 percent (15-of-27) in the opening half while NIU shot just 35.5 percent (11-of-31) from the floor.

Early in the second half, Illinois State once again pushed its advantage to a dozen until a triple from Sotirov and a basket by Jones brought NIU within seven, 42-35, with 14:29 left to play.

Eight-straight from the hosts helped give Illinois State a 53-37 lead until Jones ended the run with a pair of free throws with just over 12 minutes left.

The Redbirds responded with the next 14 however as the lead grew to 67-39 for the hosts, putting the contest out of reach.

Dalton Banks scored 17 points to lead the way for Illinois State, Chase Walker added 15 while Kinziger and Jack Daugherty each scored a dozen. The Redbirds outrebounded the Huskies 46-26 and held NIU to just 36.7 percent (22-of-60) shooting in the contest.

NIU will next be in action on Monday, Dec. 30, as the Huskies host East-West University. Game time against the Phantoms is scheduled for 6 p.m. and tickets are available at NIUHuskies.com/tickets.