Jim Rosborough got his birthday cake on time last Friday. But the NIU men’s basketball coach’s present was belated.

The Huskies never let go of their second-half lead Monday at Idaho State, but had to struggle to the finish to beat the Bengals, 73-66. The win wrapped up a 1-1 weekend road series (93-75 loss to Montana State Saturday) and moved the Huskies to 3-2, Rosborough’s best start in three years at NIU.

Stacy Arrington led the Huskies with 15 points and Antwon Harmon added 14.

“It was like night and day,” Rosborough said of the difference in his team’s play between Montana and Idaho. “Our kids were confident down the stretch. The coaches were trying to put things in (the players’) heads, but the kids didn’t hear them, so you know they were concentrating and playing well.”

NIU came into the final 20 minutes with a 41-35 lead and kept a steady 7-point distance from ISU for most of the half. With less than a minute to play, the Bengals shortened their deficit to 69-64, forcing the Huskies to take a timeout.

With :34 on the clock ISU tried one of several desperation fouls, and NIU’s Donnell Thomas (6 points) was unable to hit the front end of the one-and-one free throw. But Thomas came back in the clutch to sink both of his next two attempts from the stripe and lift the Huskies to a 71-64 lead with :12 on the clock. Reserve Mike Hidden (6 points) sank his last two free throws to seal the win for the Huskies.

“It was good to see us hit the free throws at the end,” Rosborough said. “We stayed patient and played with great intelligence in the last seven or eight minutes.”

ISU took control of the game from the tipoff, but with 4:31 left to play in the half, darkness fell on the Bengals’ 29-25 lead. The scoreboard went out in the Minidome.

The Bengal crowd of 2,755 watched the Huskies make a 16-6 run.

“Maybe we should set some bombs to our scoreboard back home,” Rosborough said.

Andrew Wells came off the bench to score four of his eight first-half points in the Huskies’ four-minute surge. Wells kept the boards clean with his game-high 11 rebounds, and finished the evening with 13 points.

“At first (Wells) was soft and tentative, but we brought him back in the first half and he broke out of it— he’s an explosive kid,” Rosborough said.

The NIU coach said Donald Whiteside’s performance was his “best game since he’s been at Northern.” Whiteside finished with 12 points, 4 boards and 6 assists.