Missing a pair of starters due to injury, the Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team fell, 78-66, at Ohio on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 6). Xavier Amos (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) scored a team-high 22 points with seven rebounds while David Coit (Columbus, N.J./Atlantic Cape CC) added 17 points and Philmon Gebrewhit (Boston, Mass./DePaul) had 14 points.

NIU (6-8, 0-2 MAC) led by three at halftime but a 14-3 run by Ohio to begin the second stanza helped the Bobcats go in front for good. Ohio shot 50.9 percent (28-of-55) from the field in the contest, including 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from three, while holding NIU to 39.3 percent (24-of-61) shooting and 42.9 percent (12-of-28) from three.

“We talked about being better in the first four minutes (of the second half) than we have been, but we let Ohio go on a big run to start the half,” said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. “Our inability to execute, we played hard but we are undermanned right now, we are playing guys extended minutes, and our bench hasn’t really been productive. In the first half we competed but our Achilles heel has been coming out of halftime, Ohio got off to a quick start, we didn’t get stops and didn’t execute.”

A triple by Coit and a coast-to-coast layup from Amos off a steal gave the Huskies a 10-4 lead just over five minutes into the contest.

Ohio pulled back even at 13 before a triple from Gebrewhit and a free throw by Will Lovings-Watts (Jeffersonville, Ind./Putnam Science) gave NIU a 17-13 advantage near the midway point of the opening half.

The Bobcats were within a pair until a put-back from Harvin Ibarguen (Cali, Colombia/Seward County CC) and Gebrewhit’s third triple gave NIU a 24-17 lead.

A 9-1 Ohio run gave the Bobcats a one-point lead, 28-27, but Coit put the Huskies back in front with a triple with 1:25 left in the half. A pair of free throws with four seconds to play before the intermission evened the game at 32 for Ohio before Quaran McPherson (Queens, N.Y./Nebraska) knocked in a 40-footer at the buzzer to give NIU a 35-32 lead at the break.

Gebrewhit had 11 points to lead all scorers in the opening 20 minutes, Amos netted nine and Coit had eight points for the Huskies, who went 7-of-17 (41.2 percent) from beyond the arc. Ajay Sheldon had nine points to pace Ohio.

Ohio (7-7, 1-1 MAC) scored the first seven points to open the second half as the Bobcats took a 39-35 lead. A triple from Amos brought NIU back within one, but Ohio scored the next seven as the lead grew to 46-38 a little over four minutes into the second half, forcing a Huskie timeout.

The Bobcats used a 9-0 burst to push their advantage to 57-42 just past the midway point of the second half. Coit and Amos knocked in triples to help bring the Huskies back within 11, but Ohio answered with five-straight as the lead grew to 64-48 with 7:42 to play.

AJ Clayton finished with 23 points for the Bobcats, Jaylin Hunter scored 20 while Elmore James added 11 points. Ohio shot 57.1 percent (16-of-28) in the second half, including 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from three-point range.

NIU will be back in action on the road on Tuesday, Jan. 9, when the Huskies visit Western Michigan. NIU returns home next Saturday, Jan. 13, when it hosts Bowling Green. Tickets, including the 2024 Pack, are available now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets.