In Monday’s thrashing of the NIU basketball team, Akron was hotter than viewers thoughts the new XFL cheerleaders’ were.

Totaling 103 points with a second-half performance that saw Akron shoot 82 percent from the 3-point line, Dan Hipsher’s ball club was sizzling.

“It was just an alignment of the stars or whatever,” said Hipsher. “We had an exceptional night shooting.”

Offensively, the Huskies finished with seven more field goal attempts than Akron but couldn’t apply the same outcome Akron did with their shots, as they shot a mere 34 percent from the field in the first half. The second half saw an improvement with NIU putting out 49 points, but their efforts weren’t enough.

With the Huskies’ sub par defensive efforts, the nets at Chick Evans Field House were virtually ripped from their hinges with the Zips’ hot shooting.

Leading the way for Akron’s exception play was 6-foot-7 junior David Falknor who hit 5-for-5 3-point attempts in the second half.

“[David’s] an exceptional shooter and always has been,” said Hipsher. “When he gets his feet set, you can go to the NBA or wherever you want but there is nobody that can shoot the ball open better than he can.”

Falknor was just one of Akron’s many weapons, and the Huskies could not find an answer.

Shooting 20-25 from the free-throw line and over 60-percent from the field and 3-point line, it is no wonder Greer came up empty on a defensive solution for the Zips.

“I was just searching [for a defense],” said Greer. “I tried to go to a zone, went to a zone and they knocked them in. Then I tried to go into a triangle and two, but whatever we threw at them they had the answer for tonight.”

Stephen Jones looks for a shot in the Huskies 103-75 loss against Akron.