From the team’s first team practice, NIU head coach Ricardo Patton made it known to his other players that eventually, there would be life without Xavier Silas on the basketball court.

 With the 2010-11 season being Silas’ last hurrah as a Huskie, Patton told his players that they’d have to continue their basketball careers without Silas, who has scored in abundance since his arrival two years ago.

“We started out talking about life without Xavier the first day of practice,” Patton said. “The first day of practice, I told the players that I believed in them whether or not Xavier was on the floor, and that it wasn’t about just Xavier, and that we needed other players to be integral parts.”

In back-to-back games for NIU, reality has settled in that Silas won’t always be there to pick his teammates up. After being benched in the second half during the Huskies 60-48 loss to Seattle last Saturday, Silas found himself on the sideline in another way Wednesday night when NIU took on Central Michigan: an ankle injury.

With 11 minutes to play in the second half, Silas raced toward the lane on a fast break where he was met by Chippewas defenders. Immediately, Silas was hit with a mid-air collision and grimaced in pain, grabbing his left ankle.

“When you have guys that are backup singers, and now you ask them to be lead singers, sometimes they don’t have the voice for it,” Patton said.

As Silas sat on the bench with his ankle wrapped and on ice, the younger Huskies’ time to shine came calling. The 692 fans in attendance got a sneak preview of what life is going to eventually look like once Silas’ NIU career fades to black. Huskie underclassmen Antone Christian and Tony Nixon saw significant playing time and helped keep their team in the game. Christian, Nixon and transfer Tim Toler provided some offensive punch that kept the score close before NIU lost 64-58 to Central Michigan.

Christian, who got his first career start, scored 11 points while Nixon came off the bench with nine points of his own. Toler dropped in nine points and six rebounds.

Toler praised his young teammates for rising to the occasion when their numbers were called upon, as he foresees Christian and Nixon making strides toward becoming legitimate offensive threats.

“We feel comfortable with [Silas] or without [Silas] on the court because we practice that,” Toler said.