It wasn’t supposed to end this way.

Playing its final game of the season, the NIU men’s basketball team dropped an 87-81 decision to Eastern Illinois before 2,363 at Chick Evans Field House Monday night. EIU upped its season record to 17-11 while the Huskies fell to 8-20, giving NIU its first 20-loss season since 1975-76.

For the four Huskie seniors playing their final college game, there can be no consolation. Two of those seniors, Rodney Davis and Randy Norman, led NIU in scoring with 26 points and 16 points, respectively. But it was Norman’s errant pass with 30 seconds left in the game that sealed NIU’s fate.

With the Huskies trailing 83-81, Norman tried to execute a difficult bounce pass to Huskie forward Mike Grabner. The Panthers picked off the pass and with 25 seconds showing on the clock, EIU guard Jay Taylor found himself at the free-throw line after Davis fouled him in desperation. Taylor hit the two free throws to finish with a game-high 27 points.

The Taylor-Davis matchup produced nearly the same results as in EIU’s 88-80 win over NIU in January. Taylor outscored his former East Aurora High School teammate Davis that night, and though Davis performed brilliantly this time, it was Taylor who again led his side to victory.

“Those kids from Aurora are competitive kids,” said EIU coach Rick Samuels in reference to Taylor and Davis. “They get pumped up to have bragging rights when they go home.”

Davis started the game as if he would be the one doing all the bragging. He scored 11 of the Huskies’ first 24 points, but was shutout in the final 9:05 of the first half. Davis spent most of that stretch seated on the bench with three fouls.

With Davis watching from the sidelines, Taylor took over for the Panthers. He scored 16 points in the opening 20 minutes as EIU led 48-42.

The Huskies finished the first half with six consecutive points and continued to score early in the second half, building a 58-52 lead with 15:17 remaining. The Huskies’ 20-4 run proved to be only temporary as EIU clawed its way back and eventually overtook NIU 70-69 with 8:26 to go.

Donnell Thomas’ rebound and layin with 3:01 remaining tied the game 81-81, but NIU failed to score after that point. The Panthers closed out NIU with four Taylor free throws, and Tony Hemphill’s dunk with eight seconds left put the exclamation point on the Panthers’ decisive rally.

With little to talk about except next season’s outlook, NIU coach Jim Rosborough continued to sound optimistic. He did admit to being less than satisfied with his team’s performance during his two-year tenure.

“I’m not proud of it at all,” he said of NIU’s 17-39 record the last two seasons. “My job is to get things righted. We don’t intend to lie down.”

Rosborough reiterated his desire to see bigger crowds next season and said he knows what it would take for that to happen.

“What this institution needs is a winner,” he said. “I think we’re on the right track.”

Rosborough also expressed his intention not to recruit junior college transfers. He said it would be unfair and potentially disruptive to the freshmen on the Huskies’ current roster.