During the post game press conference, head coach Rob Judson said all of his players were freshmen in his new offensive system.

Senior Leon Rogers looked anything but young in the Huskies’ 78-76 overtime win over Marathon Oil on Monday night. Rogers poured in a team-high 28 points, including the Huskies’ final seven points in regulation.

“I was really disappointed in my play in the first half,” Rogers said. “Coach benched me at the start of the second half, which showed he wanted more out of me. I put it upon myself to try to step up. We ran the right plays to put me in the position to score, and I put the ball in the hole. I think that is what I have to do to lead this team.”

While Rogers played the role of a seasoned veteran, freshman Jamel Staten played the composed rookie, chipping in with 21 total points on 9-for-12 shooting.

“I was real proud of Jamel; the way he played in the first half,” Judson commented. “He played very poised and I think with a maturity beyond a freshman in his second college game.”

The first-half was a back-and-forth affair that saw four ties and eight lead changes.

The Huskies jumped out to an early lead behind consistent play from Staten. The freshman hit three straight field goals for the Huskies to give them an early 12-9 lead. The lead would not stand for long as Marathon used timely 3-point shooting and balanced scoring to take a 35-31 halftime lead.

With the team struggling from the field in the first half (12-for-29), Staten helped keep the Huskies in the game with a perfect shooting performance.

Staten was 6-for-6 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the free throw line.

In the second half, Marathon Oil jumped on the Huskies early, building a 14-point lead with 11:32 remaining.

The Huskies chipped away and finally managed their first tie in the second half with 1:39 left in the game. After a Rogers layup, Marathon’s David Ferguson hit a runner with eight seconds left to send the game into overtime.

In the extra period, Rogers scored four of his game-high 28 points to lead the Huskies to victory.

With five seconds left, Marathon’s Jerry Carstensen missed a wide open 3-point try that would have given Marathon the lead.

“Overall, as a team we made progress,” Judson said of his first win as an NIU coach. “We are doing a lot of sowing, and we are looking forward to reaping that in the future.”