Box Score
CHICAGO – Chicago State men's basketball bounced back from a 27-point deficit in the second half, but visiting Northern Illinois held on late in the stretch to claim a 99-93 win Wednesday night at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center. The Cougars saw their record fall to 5-11, while the Huskies improved to 4-8 on the season with the win.
The visitors received nine points from junior Xavier Silas as part of a 16-4 run within the game's opening five minutes. After a layup by junior Darion Anderson at the 13:28 mark increased NIU's lead to 20-6, CSU responded with a quick 7-0 run in just over a minute behind four points from junior Christian Wall (New Orleans, LA/John Ehret) (New Orleans, La.) to slice its deficit to 20-13 after with 11:56 left in the half after sophomore Kabangu Tshinga Kasamba (St. Catherine's, ONT/St. Francis) (St. Catharine's, Ont.) drained a three-pointer. Silas came back to score 10 points as part of a 30-17 run in the final 11-plus minutes of the half to take the Huskies into intermission ahead by a 50-30 margin.
NIU opened the second half by outscoring the home team by a 31-23 margin in the first 10-plus minutes to capture its biggest lead of the game at 81-53 that ended with a three-pointer from junior Michael Patton at the 8:47 mark. Sophomore Mike DiNunno recorded 11 points and five points from junior Sean Kowal during the Huskies' stanza-opening run.
Two consecutive three-point baskets by junior Jonathan Montgomery (Chicago, Ill.) opened a 26-8 scoring drive and a huge defensive momentum for the Cougars in over seven minutes that closed their opponent's leading margin to 88-79 with 2:25 left in the game. The Huskies would maintain their advantage at the free throw line in the final two-plus minutes, despite being outscored 14-11 by the home team, to seal the win.
“Once again we got off to a slow start and we're playing well in spurts, but we've got to figure out a way to put it all together. It's time for conference play and we have to get better in a lot different areas, CSU head coach Benjy Taylor said. ”We're playing hard and hopefully we can keep our chin up to be ready to fight. I think we'll be okay once we get into Great West play.”
Wall led four Chicago State players in double figures with 23 points and six assists while converting all five of his attempts from the free throw line. Junior Carl Montgomery (Chicago, IL/Shepard) (Chicago, Ill.) posted 23 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while Jonathan Montgomery tallied 19 points, all in the second half, and tied for game-high honors with four steals.
Northern Illinois also had four players score in double figures, led by Silas' game-high total of 24 points and DiNunno posted 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Kowal notched 15 points with seven boards and four steals, while Anderson added 14 points and a game-high seven assists.
CSU opens a five-game road swing this Saturday in Orem, Utah as it will battle Utah Valley in the first-ever Great West Conference game. Tip-off from the Shurian Family Events Center is set for 8:30 p.m., central time.
~CSU~
