DEKALB, Ill. – Chicago State men's basketball continued its five-game road swing this afternoon by dropping a 93-81 decision to host Northern Illinois at the NIU Convocation Center. The Huskies improved their record to 4-5, while the Cougars fell to 3-4 on the year.
The home team captured a slim 13-12 advantage at the 15:56 mark of the first half on a three-pointer from sophomore Darion Anderson. Senior John Cantrell (Pontiac, MI/Northern HS) (Pontiac, Mich.) nailed a three at 15:41 began a 16-6 scoring drive which lasted nearly five minutes to give CSU a 29-18 lead that culminated with a fast break dunk by Cantrell with 10:22 left in the stanza. After the Huskies scored 20 of the next 29 points during a stretch of nine-plus minutes to even the score at 38-all on a dunk from sophomore Sean Kowal at 1:54, both teams split the final six points of the half to even the score at 41-41 heading into intermission.
NIU kicked off the second half 34-15 run in the first eight-plus minutes to capture a 75-56 leading margin with 9:28 remaining in the game. Senior David Holston (Pontiac, MI/Avondale HS) (Pontiac, Mich.) then recorded 10 points as part of a 19-6 CSU scoring drive over six minute to bring the visitor's deficit to 81-75 at the 4:02 after Cantrell posted another fast break dunk. The Huskies finished the game by recording 12 of the final 18 points to provide the final margin.
“NIU had caught up with us as the game wore on and then when Carl (Montgomery) started getting into foul trouble early, their big guys (Kowal and Ervin) started to take over, said Cougars head coach Benjy Taylor at the post-game press conference.
Holston led CSU with 32 points and four steals, while Montgomery added a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds in just 19 minutes of play. Senior Mike Wilson (New York, NY/Mt. San Jacinto CC) (New York, N.Y.) contributed 12 points and Cantrell finished with nine points. Senior Tawrence Walton (Chicago, IL/Kennedy-King College) (Chicago, Ill.) tallied seven points, seven boards and four assists for the Cougars.
Anderson equaled Holston for game-high honors with 32 points while adding six assists and five steals to lead NIU. Kowal tallied a double-double of 23 points and a game-high 12 caroms, and freshman Mike DiNunno posted 14 points and a game-high nine assists.
Chicago State continues its road swing on Wednesday, Dec. 10 in Champaign, Ill., when it faces Illinois at Assembly Hall starting at 7:30 p.m. The game will be shown live on the Big Ten Network's website – www.bigtennetwork.com.
~ CSU ~
