Fighting Irish beat up on Huskies

By BEN GROSS

NIU’s men’s basketball team saw its two-game winning streak come to an end against Notre Dame, as the Fighting Irish beat the Huskies 108-62.

With the victory, Notre Dame (7-2) set a school record of 25 straight wins at home.

The Fighting Irish also played every player on their roster in the win.

NIU (2-7) found itself down 57-25 at halftime. Although out of the game, the Huskies continued to play hard.

“I think the kids showed great character,” NIU head coach Ricardo Patton said. “But, that’s what we expect. It’s not something that we should reward. It’s a part of life to battle no matter what the circumstances are.”

Guard Michael Patton led the team with 12 points in the loss. However, the Huskies’ coach was most impressed by the performance of his two forwards, Egan Grafel and Shaun Logan. Grafel and Logan scored eight and 10 points, respectively.

“Egan and Logan played extremely well,” Patton said. “However, what makes any post player effective is having good shooters around them.”

Notre Dame had four players score in double digits. Forward Rob Kurz and guard Kyle McAlarney led the Fighting Irish with 17 points a piece.

NIU will play four games over winter break, finishing its out-of-conference schedule against Loyola, UW-Green Bay and Arkansas-Little Rock.

The Huskies will then begin MAC play on the road against Western Michigan before classes resume.