If Monday night’s NIU game against future AMCU opponent Akron is a taste of things to come, the Huskies may have to invest in some mouthwash before venturing to Akron again.

The Zips’ Anthony Buford hit eight of 12 three-pointers en route to his game-high 26 points to lead the Zips to a 69-55 victory over the Huskies. Akron hit seven of nine three-pointers in the game, including four of four in the second half to blow open a tight contest.

The Akron victory, in its final home game of the season, dropped the Huskies’ record to 13-10. The Zips moved to 16-8, including 13-2 at James A. Rhodes Arena.

Donnell “D-Train” Thomas moved into the eigth spot on the all-time Huskie scoring list during the game with his 24-point effort.

Thomas and Andrew Wells scored eight of the first nine Huskie points as NIU trailed by two, 11-9 midway into the first half. A Buford three-pointer gave the Zips a seven-point advantage, their biggest lead of the half. Donald Whiteside responded with his own three-point bomb to spark a 14-4 NIU run.

Thomas hit two straight baskets to give the Huskies their biggest lead of the half at 23-20. A three-pointer by Mark Alberts and two free-throws by Buford gave the Zips the lead with 4 seconds left, but Thomas hit two charity tosses to knot the game at 25 after 20 minutes.

Both teams shot poorly in the half, NIU hitting nine of 27 and Akron connecting on only eight of 21. The Zips made up for their shooting slump in the second half in a big way, hitting 17 of 21 shots to pull away from NIU.

The Zips built a seven-point lead to start the second half only to have Whiteside again cut the defecit with a three-pointer. This time, however, the Huskies couldn’t get over the hump and slowly watched Akrons’ lead build to 18 points.

Buford, who entered the contest averaging 19 points per outing, had 24 of Akrons’ 44 total points midway through the second half. Thomas matched Buford basket for basket in the half, scoring 14 of his team-high 24 points in the final 20 minutes.

Thomas was the only Huskie scorer in double figures as NIU shot 19 of 48 (39 percent) in the game. Outside of Thomas’ 10- of-12 free-throw shooting, NIU missed four of six charity tosses, including the front ends of two one-and-ones when the games’ outcome was still in doubt.

“I told our players you have to step up and hit shots when you’re down by five,” said NIU coach Jim Molinari. “You can’t continue missing shots and free-throws.

“We had very good defense in the first half and defensively we fought for the first few minutes in the second half (but) Buford killed us. He hit all his shots.”

The Huskies will face Akron twice next season as NIU moves into the AMCU Conference. The Zips, who have beaten the Huskies four straight times, return their entire roster next year.

“This is a good Akron team,” said Molinari. “They’ll be formidable in the AMCU next year.”

The Huskies’ next home game is Feb. 24 at 7:00 against Chicago State.