Northern Star Online: Huskies end four game streak

Eastern Michigan brought the Huskies’ four-game home winning streak to an end Tuesday night.

The streak ended when the Huskies failed on two comeback attempts, losing 65-61.

After securing the first half with a last-minute dunk by senior Michael Hart, the Huskies (4-11 overall, 1-2 MAC) went to the locker room with a 34-33 lead. NIU, however, quickly fell to a 10-point deficit in the second half.

“I don’t know how to sum up the game other than a fight broke out and we ran,” said NIU head coach Ricardo Patton.

Though the Huskies shut down the Eagles’ (6-9, 2-1 MAC) top scorer, Carlos Medlock, in the first half, they allowed bench player Jarred Axon to go 5–for–8 behind the arc. Axon tied his season-best 17 points within the first 20 minutes of the game.

Axon ended the game shooting 7–for–12 from three-point range, scoring 23 of EMU’s 65 points.

Patton said his team was outplayed throughout the game, and was disappointed with the loss.

“I felt if we could pick up our intensity, there was plenty of time early on that we could have gotten back in,” Patton said.

With a little over six minutes to play, the Huskies trailed 43-54. Sophomore Najul Ervin sank two free throws to start an NIU comeback.

NIU fans saw the spark of intensity Patton was looking for, as Ervin, freshman Jake Anderson and senior Shaun Logan sank consecutive layups to bring the Huskies within three points.

Anderson turned the ball over with 3:55 remaining, causing the Huskies to lose their rhythm.

“They made that final run, and we were fortunate to hold them off,” said Charles Ramsey, Eastern Michigan’s head coach.

After the costly mistake, the Eagles capitalized and cushioned their lead to six points.

“They nailed a couple threes, and we missed some shots and had some turnovers,” Patton said. “Although we only had 14 turnovers, those turnovers came at some very crucial moments in the game.”