2010-11 came to a merciful end for the NIU men’s basketball team on Tuesday evening in the first round of the MAC Tournament.

NIU lost 74-54 at Bowling Green, sending the Falcons to Cleveland for the MAC Tournament Quarterfinals.

The Huskies (9-21 overall, 5-12 MAC) followed a strong first half with a flat second. The Falcons used a 7-0 run at the start of the second half to keep the Huskies in the rear-view mirror.

NIU head coach Ricardo Patton only had positive things to say about his team, even after the unit had just lost its 21st game.

“I told them I was proud of them for continuing to battle, a lot of guys have been asked to do more than they thought they would be asked,” said Patton in a post-game radio interview. “There were opportunities for guys to quit but they just hung in there, and I believe that they gave us all they had this season.”

With 8:23 remaining in regulation, Bowling Green’s A’uston Calhoun put an exclamation point on the win with a thunderous two-handed jam. The dunk gave the Falcons (14-18, 9-8) a 15-point advantage, and sent the Anderson Arena crowd into a frenzy. Calhoun finished with a game-high 25 points and nine rebounds.

Junior forward Tim Toler kept NIU in the game early on. The junior-college transfer sank three of his first five shots and finished the first half with 11 points. Toler finished with 13 points to lead the Huskies.

NIU saw its last lead of the night evaporate at the end of the first half, when BGSU’s Dee Brown hit a buzzer beating three-pointer. The momentum of the shot seemingly carried over to a second half that saw the Falcons dominate.

“If we would have been able to come out as well as we did in the first half, we would have been in a better position, but we got away from what we did in the first half,” Patton said.

Patton declined to speak to the Northern Star for the second consecutive game.

Lee Fisher returned from a fractured foot to play against the Falcons, scoring no points in 11 minutes. Battling an ankle injury, Nate Rucker scored 10 points in 19 minutes of action.

Even with a healthy roster, Patton is still concerned about the Huskies’ lack of size going forward.

“We need to add more pieces to the puzzle and this team will get better and better,” Patton said. “Someone that we can throw the ball into, that can play with more confidence than a Nate Rucker and someone that has more athletic ability than a Tim Toler.”