CHICAGO – Chicago State men's basketball saw three of its players score in double figures during its return to the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center today as it fell to in-state foe Northern Illinois by a score of 95-77.
Â
Northern Illinois opened the game with a 10-2 lead only four minutes into the first half before junior Fred Sims, Jr. and redshirt senior Jelani Pruitt each scored a basket to pull the Green and White within four at 10-6 at the 15:35 mark. A 30-17 run in a near 10-minute span helped propel the visitors to a 40-23 advantage with 5:45 left in the half following a fast break layup from Eugene German. The Huskies would go into the halftime break ahead by a 53-24 margin.
Â
The second half began with the Cougars going on a 20-14 scoring drive in seven and a half minutes with Sims scoring nine points to slice their deficit to 69-54 with 12:38 remaining but would get no closer than 15 points for the rest of the game.
Â
Sims finished with 19 points to lead CSU, while Pruitt added 12 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Junior Rob Shaw equaled his season scoring high with 10 points and tallied a season-best five rebounds.
Â
Four players posted double digit scoring for the Huskies, led by German's game high 26 points.
Â
CSU takes a break from competition this week for finals before heading to Rochester, Mich., on Dec. 9 to take on host Oakland at the O'Rena beginning at 2 p.m. in a live broadcast on ESPN 3.
