At Tuesday’s Huskie Club Luncheon, NIU men’s basketball coach Jim Rosborough reacted to Monday night’s heartbreak loss to Illinois-Chicago.

“Our kids played hard, battled and scrapped, but just didn’t end up on top,” said Rosborough, who added he felt his team played well with much improvement.

The Huskies, who lost 83-81 by a last-second shot, dropped their record to a disappointing 5-17.

Rosborough said his team looked good against “two of toughest inside players we have seen” when they defeated Central Conneticut Saturday, ending their 10-game losing streak.

“The older guys have done a good job holding us together,” said Rosborough, who gives the older players credit while still keeping one eye on the future.

After splitting the last two games, Rosborough looked forward to Tuesday night’s game, before which he said he told his players “this may be the toughest test of your young athletic lives coming off a tough loss—we have to pull this one out.”

Looking to improve their record, Rosborough said a friend once told him the basketball season may be to long, “but one good side is it’s not too soon before you get your next chance to win.”

Also speaking at the event was Huskie football coach Jerry Pettibone, who impressed the gathering by announcing the apparent outstanding athletes recruited by NIU this year.

“I am satisfied we are in the ballpark with recruiting the right kind of players. This is one of the first years we have been able to do this,” Pettibone said.

Pettibone was successful in attracting highly sought-after players such as Brad Daugherty, who Pettibone calls a “blue_chip recruit.”

“The big emphasis in this year’s recruiting,” Pettibone said, “was to get good depth at quarterback and big size at lineman. I feel we were able to accomplish this.”

In adding depth at quarterback, the Huskies signed James Darby, the first junior college recruit for NIU in four years.

“I think we have come as far as we could with what we got,” said Pettibone, who recruited 22 players, including six all-staters.

“The heat is on us to go on and be successful,” Pettibone said.