History has a tendency to repeat itself when it comes to NIU basketball and Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Tony Bennett.

The 6-0 senior guard has made a habit of beating the Huskies. Last night was no different.

Although he tallied only 14 points, it was more than enough as the Phoenix beat NIU 58-43 in front of a sellout crowd of 5,687 at Brown County Aren

The Huskies dropped to 4-9 on the season with a 2-2 mark in the Mid-Continent Conference. The Phoenix stayed perfect in the M-C with a 4-0 mark and a 12-1 season ledger.

NIU put a scare in UW-GB in the early going, leading 18-11 with 12 minutes gone in the first half before the Phoenix took a 29-23 halftime lead.

With NIU staying close in the second half, Bennett sparked an UW-GB run by nailing the first of four-consecutive Phoenix three pointers.

UW-GB and Bennett retained command for the rest of the game.

“The great ones take over, and that’s exactly what happened tonight,” NIU head coach Brian Hammel said. “When we denied (his outside shot), he showed his greatness by penetrating and dishing off.”

The Huskies were without leading scorer Brian Molis who sat out the game with a foot injury.

“He (Molis) was not ready to perform tonight,” Hammel said. “Brian’s a tremendous competitor and he will be ready to go Saturday (when the Huskies host UIC).”

NIU has now lost four regular season M-C games in the last two years—with three of those losses coming against the Bennett-led Phoenix.

Randy Fens led NIU in scoring Monday with 10 points. He was the only Huskie in double figures.