What happened

Men’s basketball (8-10, 2-5 MAC) dropped its second game in a row, losing to the Bowling Green Falcons (13-5, 5-2 MAC), 56-46, Tuesday in Bowling Green, Ohio.

How it happened

After a tightly contested first half, the second half turned into a battle of big runs.

With what should have been a back-breaker, Bowling Green freshman Zack Denny hit three 3-pointers in a row with 12:52 remaining in the second half to put the Falcons up 35-26. But, the Huskies weren’t done yet.

NIU went on a 13-2 run that was capped off by a 3-pointer from senior Aaron Armstead to put the Huskies up 39-37. Armstead scored eight of his team-high 12 points during the run.

Despite the run, the Huskies weren’t able to carry that momentum into the final minutes of the game. Bowling Green took advantage, ending the game on a 19-7 run.

The Huskies shot the ball well early, but they weren’t able to keep it up as they finished with a 36.2 shooting percentage.

The number: 71.4

That was the Huskies’ shooting percentage from the free-throw line. The makes were there, but the calls weren’t as the Huskies were only able to get to the free throw line 14 times throughout the game.

Northern Star players of the game

Bowling Green junior Richaun Holmes led all scorers with 18 points. Before Denny went off from behind the arc, Holmes was carrying the Falcons offensively. His game wasn’t limited to the offensive end; his seven rebounds were tied for the game high.

Senior Aaron Armstead had his second-straight strong game off the bench. Armstead paced the Huskies’ offense with 12 points and sparked NIU’s second half run. He was also a perfect 3-3 from the free-throw line.

The quote

“It was a combination of things,” said head coach Mark Montgomery. “They weren’t calling a lot of fouls. The officials let us play. I thought we took the ball strong to the basket, and we didn’t get the call. We did that in the first half and got three charges. It made guys a little leery of driving.”