After a 65-63 last-second loss to Southwest Missouri State on Wednesday, the NIU men’s basketball team didn’t have long to linger over its regular-season home-opening setback.

The Huskies enjoyed their Thanksgiving meals, then traveled to the Allstate Arena where they topped host DePaul 84-69 for the first time on the road.

NIU coach Rob Judson said one of the keys for the Huskies (1-2) would be to get out to a quick start against the No. 35 Blue Demons (2-1), and that’s exactly what they did.

NIU forward Paige Paulsen hit two three-pointers five minutes into the game to give NIU a 12-7 lead. The South Dakota native had 14 of his team-high 19 points in the first half. Junior Todd Peterson finished with 15 points for the Huskies.

The Huskies improved on a 44-35 halftime lead with a 7-1 run out of the locker room. Sending five players in double-digit scoring, NIU went on to win 84-79 as boos rained down on the host Blue Demons from their fans.

“That whole game against DePaul we just never let up,” NIU assistant coach Donald Whiteside said. “If a guy wasn’t on the floor then he was cheering from the sidelines. We just really came together out there.”

Before a crowd of 3,618 at the Convocation Center against SMS (1-1), NIU was tied for only 11 of the final 15 seconds.

With 15 seconds left to play, Huskies guard Anthony Maestranzi came off a double screen and hit his third three-pointer of the game to tie it at 63.

Maestranzi’s three-pointer capped off the NIU run from when they were down 58-50 with 1:07 left in the game.

But SMS still had one play left. Guard Deke Thompson ran the length of the floor and didn’t give the Huskies defense enough time to set up, Whiteside said. Thompson pulled the trigger about 12 feet from the hoop and SMS took home the victory, 65-63.

“We started to come together toward the end,” Judson said. “We have a young team that is still trying to get a feel for the offense, get a feel for each other.”

Despite the outcome, the coaches were pleased with how their team fought back – especially the play of Maestranzi and fellow guard Cory Sims. The two combined for eight of the team’s last 13 points and led the team with 11 and 10 points, respectively.