The avalanche of snow that hit DeKalb Thursday did something the Huskies’ men’s basketball team was hoping to do by itself—put out the Flames.

The Flames, as in the 11-6 Illinois-Chicago Flames, were scheduled to play NIU last night only to be snowbound in Chicago. The game is tentatively scheduled to be played on Friday, Feb. 16.

Although Huskies are supposed to enjoy the snow and cold weather, a disappointed head Huskie coach Jim Molinari said, “I feel like Robert Byrd alone on Antarctica.”

Molinari and his 9-7 team, however, won’t have to go exploring for their next opponent.

In a 180-degree difference in terms of caliber of opposition, as well as a 50-degree difference in temperature, NIU will now try to extend its two-game winning streak against the 3-14 Florida International Golden Panthers. Saturday’s game in Miami is slated to start at 7 p.m. and is not expected to be snowed out.

“Part of the attitude we’ve tried to bring here is discipline and overcoming obstacles,” said Molinari. “This is an obstacle—getting geared up for a game and then not playing, but we have to make the most of it. It’s disappointing but we’ll go on.

“We were prepared to play UIC tonight and we’ll be prepared to play UIC when we do face them,” Molinari added.

“(Florida International) will be a big game to keep our momentum going. We have some tough opponents coming up at Evansville and at Wright State, but we played well against Loyola (a 60-56 victory in NIU’s last outing) and that was encouraging,” Molinari said.

Florida International is coming off a nine-game losing streak that was snapped when the Golden Panthers downed Central Florida last Saturday. FIU’s defense held UCF to only 18 second-half points and the offense produced 19 assists overall.