Rarely was the scoreboard not in favor of the NIU men’s basketball team Saturday at Ball State.

Problem is, after the Huskies held the lead for over 22 mintues straight, Ball State took the lead with 4:11 remaining.

A three-point play by Terrance Chapman gave the host Cardinals the lead, which they never relinquished on their way to a 67-59 win.

Ball State remained perfect at home this season. NIU has yet to win a conference game on the road, with a 0-6 mark.

“We have had so many games like this on the road,” NIU coach Rob Judson said. “We are right there, but it’s always a possession or two that keeps us from getting over the hump. We have to seize the moment.”

With 5:34 remaining in the game, NIU (7-11 overall, 3-7 MAC) still hung on to a six-point lead. But that’s when BSU’s Dennis Trammell did the seizing.

The Cardinals (10-6, 5-3) second-leading scorer sank an open three-pointer from the top of the arc to cut the NIU lead to three.

After BSU took the lead Trammell made sure they kept it. Every time NIU was able to get close to BSU, Trammell hit a shot.

“Trammell got hot in the second half, but we have to play better defense,” Judson said. “It’s as simple as that. We have to play tough on the defensive end.”

Trammell went 3-for-3 from the field with 10 points in the closing minutes to end the night with a game-high 24 points.

It wasn’t just Trammell who did in the Huskies. In the first half, NIU shot 52 percent from the field while holding BSU to 26 percent. Behind their shooting, the Huskies built an eight-point lead at halftime which was capped off by a three-pointer from Todd Peterson as time expired.

But in the second half the numbers flipped. BSU shot 44.8 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from behind the three-point arc. NIU managed just 30.8 percent and made only one shot from behind the arc in the second half.

Combine that with 18 Huskie turnovers compared to BSU’s four and you didn’t have to look far to see why NIU couldn’t hold on, Judson said.