Brenda Bazan photo
Huskie freshman Abdel Nader led all scorers with a career-high 28 points in Northern Illinois’ loss to Ball State.

By Larry Peterson
Staff writer
DEKALB — The Northern Illinois Huskies men’s basketball team played 16 minutes of solid, competitive basketball against the Ball State Cardinals in the first half Saturday, Jan. 21 at the Convocation Center in DeKalb.
When the season isn’t going well, the ball just doesn’t seem to bounce your way. That was the case in the final four minutes for NIU.
With the score tied at 26 and four minutes remaining in the first half, Ball State went on a 9-2 run and the momentum carried over into the second half which enabled the visitors to come away with a 75-65 victory over the hapless Huskies.
Neither team led by more than three early in the game until a five-point burst by Abdel Nader gave NIU a 21-16 lead with eight minutes to play before the intermission.
Northern Illinois had the ball with 30 seconds remaining and held for the final shot of the first frame. On a missed jump shot by Nader with five seconds left, the Cardinals senior guard Randy Davis grabbed the rebound on the run. He crossed the center line with two dribbles and drained a long three-pointer at the buzzer.
The Huskies trailed 34-28 and with a made bucket, the halftime score would have read 34-30. With the fortunate bounce for Ball State and the buzzer-beater, the result was a five-point turn-around, a 37-28 halftime advantage and a momentum swing.
To open the second half, Northern Illinois scored on a fast break bucket off a Cardinal miss. Ball State, riding the first half momentum, went on a 5-0 run in the next two minutes to take a 42-30 edge and stretched the lead to 15 points, 50-35, with 12 minutes remaining in the game.
The Huskies regrouped and at the midway point of the second half trailed by 10, 50-40. A 5-0 NIU run cut the Ball State lead to five with eight minutes remaining in the game. But NIU was unable to match the Ball State firepower down the stretch. Nader led the second half charge with 13-straight points, but the Cardinals matched Nader shot-for-shot.
A put-back by Huskie junior guard Tony Nixon cut the Cardinal lead to 65-58 with 2:15 left to play, but that was as close as Northern Illinois would come as they were unable to get defensive stops in the closing minutes.
Both teams were 8 for 19 from three-point range. Ball State made two more free throws than the Huskies and four more deuces.
Nader led all scorers with a career and game-high 28 points, had four blocked shots and one assist. Aksel Bolin, 6-foot-7 sophomore forward, was second high with eight points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
The Cardinals had balanced scoring with four players in double figures, led by 6-foot-9 forward Jarrod Jones with 17 points and eight boards.
An upbeat Mark Montgomery, head coach of the Huskies, said, “We were resilient all night. They had us down by 15 and we cut it down to five. Abdel Nader had a big night, Aksel [Bolin] got us going in the first half. You have to give Ball State credit. They stepped up and made some tough shots.”
Ball State head coach Billy Taylor, a former West Aurora star and graduate, complimented his team and coach Montgomery.
“We fought hard, tightened up our defense and the four-minute run provided momentum, which we carried through the second half. Mark Montgomery is doing a good job. We went through a rebuilding period and it is tough,” Taylor said.
Northern Illinois will play Kent State in the MAC East, Wednesday, Jan. 25.