DeKALB – A buzzer-beater three from senior guard Jakari Spence lifted Monmouth University (5-4) to a 74-71 victory over NIU men’s basketball (5-4).
After holding a 41-29 halftime lead, the Huskies once again collapsed in the second half. NIU was outscored by double digits in the second half for the third consecutive game, marking their third straight loss.
Tied 71-71 with under five seconds to play, junior guard Zarique Nutter had the ball stolen by Monmouth redshirt freshman forward Jaret Valencia, leading to Spence’s game-winning shot.
“Nutter was a little bit super aggressive, but he thought he had a good lane,” said NIU men’s basketball head coach Rashon Burno. “I would have liked Diggy (junior guard David Coit) to keep it (the ball), but he made a decision to give it to Nutter and Nutter thought he had an opportunity to go.”
After a strong first half performance which included a 27-2 scoring run and 7 blocked shots, the Huskies fell flat in the final 20 minutes.
NIU turned the ball over 15 times, leading to 22 points for the Hawks. In the second half, the Huskies missed 7 of their 13 free throw attempts and allowed Monmouth to convert 50% of its three-point attempts.
“Guys don’t understand the value of the ball when it’s needed,” Burno said. “We did a horrible job of ball security in the second half, so this is a learning process for us. We gave up 42% from three, their magic number was 40 (percent). We did a horrible job of defending the three in the second half. (Sophomore forward Xavier) Amos did his best with 21 (points) and 11 (rebounds), but we didn’t get stops.”
Despite the loss, Amos turned in a strong performance on both sides of the ball, including his first career double-double. Amos scored 21 points on 10-for-15 shooting, grabbed 11 rebounds, swatted away 4 shots and nabbed 2 steals.
“He’s a good player, so that’s expected of him,” Burno said. “But we didn’t play well. 5 of 20 (from three-point range), 64% from the foul line, I am not happy.”
MOVING FORWARD
The Huskies’ next game will be against Calumet College of St. Joseph at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 18 at the Convocation Center. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available via SideArm Stats.
“We got to do a better job,” Burno said. “Me as a head coach, I gotta do a better job of getting these guys understanding what goes into winning on a daily basis. This is unacceptable.”
