DeKALB | Despite a late second-half comeback attempt, the NIU men’s basketball team could not overcome the DePaul Blue Demons Thursday night, losing 86-84.

Leading the Huskies (2-4) once again, senior Xavier Silas dropped 34 points, tying his career high set in two previous games this season. Silas sank 8-of-10 free throws in a game largely decided at the line.

“Right now I still don’t have my game going,” Silas said. “I missed two free throws and I had a lot of turnovers so I’m looking at myself. I’m sure everybody feels like that but if we bring this effort every time we’ll be fine.”

DePaul (2-4) cut to the basket regularly, netting 41 free throw attempts on the night. Sinking 32 of their chances from the line, the Blue Demons were led by Tony Freeland’s 13 converted free throws. On the night, the sophomore forward had 25 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

In the paint for the Huskies, freshman center Nate Rucker built on a strong start to his collegiate career, netting 13 points and tearing down eight rebounds.

After two converted free throws by DePaul’s Mike Stovall at 11:12 of the second half, the Blue Demons led by 16 points. Six minutes later, the Huskies had cut the Blue Demon lead to a mere four points after a Silas jumper.

In the double bonus, though, the Huskies were unable to keep DePaul at bay when the Blue Demons were in the paint.

“They had 41 free throws, we had 18 and that will never go in your favor,” said NIU head coach Ricardo Patton. “But we were down 16 points and almost came back to win, so as long as our guys take some lessons from this we’ll be fine.”