The men’s basketball team couldn’t withstand the University of Toledo’s 3-point onslaught, losing to the Rockets 69-55 Saturday in the Convocation Center. With the loss, the Huskies fall to No. 2 in the Mid-American Conference West Division standings.

NIU surrendered 13 3-pointers, including 6-9 in the second half. Toledo scored 39 of its 69 points from beyond the arc.

“When we’re giving up 3-pointers like that, we’re not going to be able to win a game,” senior guard Dante Thorpe said. “We gotta get stops defensively.”

The Rockets opened the game with a 17-6 lead after Toledo sophomore guard Marreon Jackson and senior guard Chris Darrington combined for five 3-pointers in the first 8:28 of play.

The Rockets first seven field goals were from behind the 3-point line before Toledo junior forward Willie Jackson made a mid-range jumper to put the Rockets up 25-13 with 4:04 left before the game’s midway mark.

The Huskies entered halftime with a 29-17 deficit shooting 24.1 percent from the field after allowing Toledo to go 7-21 on 3-pointers.

“You have to credit Toledo, they came in here and shot lights out from behind the three-point line,” Head Coach Mark Montgomery said. “It set the tone in the first half when they made seven. I definitely liked how we battled back, [nine] minutes to go you are down one and put yourself in a position to potentially win the game, but then they got hot again. Our defense let us down, we didn’t defend the three the way we should have and we were playing from behind all game.”

After going 0-3 from the field and 3-4 from the free-throw line in the first half, Thorpe went on a scoring explosion to open the second.

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He scored 16 points on 7-7 shooting from the field to help bring NIU’s deficit to 45-41 with 12:03 left in the game after making a lay-up.

“Early in the first half, I missed a couple shots,” Thorpe said. “I just told myself I had to turn it up a notch in the second half in order to give this team a chance to win. I took it upon myself to be more aggressive.”

NIU rattled off five consecutive points to bring its deficit to 47-46 with 9:50 left in the game after Thorpe subbed out with 11:28 remaining.

Thorpe subbed back in with 9:08 left in the game, but he only attempted two more field goals for the remainder of the game, missing both.

The Huskies didn’t take a lead during the game, allowing Toledo to outscore them 18-2 over six minutes of play while NIU shot 1-11 from the field during the run.

“I probably shouldn’t have taken [Thorpe] out,” Montgomery said. “I took him out at that time to give him a quick one, and that’s when they went on their run. He had it going. If I had to do it all over, I would’ve probably rode him that whole second half because some other guys were struggling.”

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Toledo senior forward Nate Navigato knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:27 left in the contest to give the Rockets their largest lead of the game at 65-48, allowing Toledo to cruise to victory.

NIU shot 35.5 percent from the field, made 22.2 percent of its 3-pointers and tallied its lowest point total of the season. Thorpe finished with 19 points on 7-12 shooting. Senior forward Lacey James recorded eight points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Junior guard Eugene German notched 15 points, six rebounds and four assists on 6-17 shooting from the field.

“I do credit them on walling up, and making us shoot over their length,” Montgomery said. “We just have to finish those plays we do usually finish. I thought at the beginning of the game we came out shooting jump shots instead of attacking them inside out. We have to do a better job of attacking the paint, even more, and punch the ball in even more.”

The Huskies, with a 12-10 overall and 5-4 MAC record, will finish their 3-game homestand against Ball State University 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Convocation Center.