With five players in the game fouling out and four more with four fouls, it’s a given that some bench players are going to have to step up.

In NIU’s 101-100 double-overtime loss Wednesday to visiting Akron in front of 2,416 fans, the Huskies got 47 points from their bench.

With its two starting guards and small forward, Jay Bates, Perry Smith and Jamel Staten, all fouling out before the end of the first overtime, ball-handling strength was in high demand for the Huskies. Enter freshman point guard Anthony Maestranzi.

Unfamiliar with Maestranzi (pronounced ma-stran-zee), Akron coach Dan Hipsher credited mase-tree-onie for his big shots and tough play.

“The little guy, No. 3, he really picked it up for them,” Hipsher said.

“Anthony really took over the ball for us,” NIU Coach Rob Judson said. “He did an excellent job running the team. He’s used to having the ball in his hands, like it was down the stretch, and will have the ball in his hands a lot while he’s here at NIU.”

The 5-foot-10, 165-pounder had 11 points and five assists in only 21 minutes of play, many of which came during crunch time. Maestranzi took all of his attempts from the field beyond the arc, hitting 3-of-5.

Long-range artistry was backed up by fellow non-starter Al Sewasciuk for the Huskies.

Sewasciuk, a 6-foot-4 junior, took eight of his nine attempts from beyond the three-point line, hitting 50-percent. His lone two-point attempt came with 2:36 left in the second overtime on a fastbreak off his own steal.

Fellow prime-time pine player Todd Peterson contributed with his clutch three-point shooting. But it was the 6-foot-7 freshman’s defense that gave the Huskies life at the end of regulation with a block on the Zips’ star Derrick Tarver during the wanning seconds of the game.

With under 15 seconds left, Akron’s star and the MAC’s leading scorer, Derrick Tarver had the ball for the Zips. Snatching the ball the 6-foot-4 burley football sculpted guard stared up the length of the court and began pounding the ball into the ground while advancing the ball closer to the hoop unguarded. The physically-inferior Maestranzi hesitated slightly, then made the commitment to guard him the length of the floor.

“I came in for [power forward] Rome Sanders and we had four guards on the floor,” Maestranzi said. “So, I just had to stick him.”

Smothering him and getting a hand on the ball at the last second as Tarver mustered a 10–foot pull up jumper, it was Peterson who came over to help out his roommate with the block.