NIU head coach Ricardo Patton has a motto: “Fight for feeling.”

The meaning behind it is simple: The feeling you get when you win is something you have to fight for.

Tuesday night, the Huskies fought – and won.

After 367 days and 14 consecutive road losses, NIU left Akron Tuesday night with an 88-78 win.

“This is the biggest win of the year for us,” NIU guard Jake Anderson said. “This is definitely the highlight of the season, beating a good team on the road.”

The Huskies’ (6-17 overall, 3-8 MAC) demeanor after the game showed just how big a win it was.

“They were really excited, as they should be,” Patton said. “It was a great team effort.”

Besides snapping NIU’s road losing streak, the Huskies also snapped Akron’s even bigger streak of (17-7, 7-4).

The Zips had won 22 straight home games, which was the fifth-longest streak in the country.

Anderson played a big role in the upset. The freshman was a key part of NIU’s offensive attack, which had one of its best performances of the season.

The Huskies shot 64 percent from the field, led by Anderson’s 8-for-11 performance. The guard finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

“Jake’s getting better,” Patton said. “He’s getting more experience and he’s going to be a really good player.”

In previous games, NIU has struggled in the first half. However, it led 40-37 over the Zips going into the break. By comparison, during its loss Saturday to Kent State, NIU trailed by 23 after the first half.

“When you start the game down 20, it takes coaching out of the game,” Patton said. “This game stayed close enough to where coaching mattered.”

A big part of the Huskies’ success was due to Akron struggling from 3-point range. The Zips shot just 8-for-27 from long range.

The Huskies, on the other hand, shot 9-for-18, with guard Michael Patton’s 5-for-10 shooting leading the way. Patton finished the game with 22 points.

“We wanted to play more team ball,” Anderson said. “We wanted to work the ball around the perimeter and find the best shot.”

NIU’s Ben Rand was also productive, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Junior Jarvis Nichols and senior Shaun Logan also reached double-digit scoring with 10 points each.

Akron guard Nick Dials was one of the few bright spots for his team, scoring 17 points.