PEORIA | Xavier Silas had a good look at a game tying three point shot with five seconds left in regulation against Bradley Tuesday night, but the shot wouldn’t fall in a 66-63 Braves win.

The NIU men’s basketball (0-2) team held multiple leads throughout the game, but were unable to keep up with Bradley’s (2-0) pace in the second half. The game went down to the wire, but the Braves held on for the win thanks to clutch shooting down the stretch.

Totaling 20 turnovers on the evening, the Huskies continued to play the role as their own worst enemy. NIU head coach Ricardo Patton knew the turnovers would haunt his team at games end.

“I’m really concerned with the turnovers,” Patton said. “Those equate to 20 less opportunities you have to score. I think we had 10 at halftime, and we came out in the second and did the same thing.”

As a result of sticking with the 2-3 zone that Northwestern victimized last Friday, the Huskies continuously gave Bradley open looks from behind the arc. The Braves, however, were unable to capitalize on the opportunities in the first half, sinking only 3-for-13 three-point attempts. Leading 30-28 at the half, the Huskies held their second halftime lead against Bradley in as many years. Unfortunately, for NIU, the end result remained the same.

Out of the gate in the second half, the Huskies started hot. After sitting out the last 13 minutes of the first half due to foul trouble, Silas dropped nine points in the first four minutes of the half. The senior guard finished with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

With nine minutes remaining in the second half, Kyree Jones sank a three pointer to give the Huskies a 55-46 edge. NIU’s lead shrank to three within 40 seconds, though, after consecutive three-point shots by Bradley and traveling calls on two consecutive possessions from the Huskies.

“I thought eventually we were going to knock down some shots,” said Bradley head coach Jim Les. “But I really liked the maturity when we weren’t hitting our shots, we dug in on the defensive end, and we were able to stick around until we got hot.”

The Huskies saw their last lead of the night evaporate with a Sam Maniscalco three ball to tie the score at 57 with five minutes remaining. NIU’s Nate Rucker put his team in the position to come back late, hitting two consecutive field goals to make the score 65-63 with just under a minute to play.

Rucker finished the night with 14 points and 10 rebounds, giving the freshman his first double-double in his career. Patton remained impressed with the athleticism of Rucker, but was concerned with the freshman’s contribution to the 20 turnovers.

“He’s going to continue to get better,” Patton said. “But he’s still young, five turnovers attest to his youth. He has to slow down and become a better passer out of the post, but he’ll get there.”

The Braves made one-of-two free throws from the line after an intentional foul from the Huskies, making the score 66-63 with 18 seconds remaining. With one NIU shot left, everyone in Carver Arena knew who would get the ball. Coming off a screen, Silas took the open look, but the ball drew iron, sealing the Huskies fate.

After the loss, Patton believed his team would concentrate on the positives that can be taken from Tuesday night instead of the negatives of a heart-breaking loss.

“It’s early and these kids are resilient,” Patton said. “We’re really close right now, I think if anything this team will leave here realizing how close they are.”