The NIU Huskies sank their free throws late and played inspiring defense to come out with a narrow 66-63 win on the road against the University of Akron Zips for the first time since 2008.

How it happened

Five Huskies scored in double figures. Guard play came up big as sophomore Keshawn Williams finished with 15 points, junior Kaleb Thorton finished with 12, and senior Trendon Hankerson added 10.

The forward duo of seniors Zool Kueth and Chinedu Kingsley Okanu contributed nicely off the bench with a combined 21 points.

For Akron, sophomore forward Ali Ali had a monster game off the bench, especially in the second half, ending with 20 points. With no timeouts left and 14 seconds to go, Ali was swarmed by the Huskies’ defense, and couldn’t get off a shot to potentially tie the game.

“I trusted our defense the whole night,” head coach Rashon Burno said. “We held them to 26% from three. I was so concerned of a putback, but I went with my gut. I trusted the guys. And they showed up for us.”

NIU traded baskets back-and-forth all game. NIU hit major foul trouble with 14:03 to go in the second half and saw Akron shoot in the bonus the rest of the way.

But it was the late game execution, primarily on the defensive side of the ball, that allowed the Huskies to pull away.

When asked about what was different with the defense in this game compared to some of the previous, “I think it’s attention to detail,” Burno said. “In order to reach our goals, we’ve got to sit down and defend.”

The end result

With the win, the Huskies sit at 8-16 on the season, and 5-9 in Mid-American Conference play. The Zips fall to 16-9 on the season, and 9-6 in conference play.

The Huskies next play the Miami University at Ohio RedHawks at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in DeKalb on a two-game win streak. The game will be streamed on ESPN3.