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Monday, January 25, 2016
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Sports
Huskies keep historic streak going Krystal Ward Staff writer
DeKalb | Defense continues to be a staple for men’s basketball, (16-3, 5-1 MAC) which defeated Toledo (12-7, 3-3 MAC) 58-49 in front of a packed house at the Convocation Center. The Huskies scored just four points in more than four minutes before a timeout ignited a small run. Senior guard Travon Baker hit a three that put the home team up 7-4 with just under 16 minutes to play in the half. Freshman guard Nick Rogers answered Baker’s three with two of his own on back-to-back Toledo possessions to put the Rockets up 10-7 with 13:30 to play in the first.
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Toledo is number one in all the offensive categories. We’re number one and number two in all the defensive categories ... . you can’t have off nights on defense.” Mark Montgomery NIU head coach
NIU sophomore center Marin Maric picked up two fouls in less than one minute that forced him to come out of the game until the last few minutes of the period. He picked up his third foul with 3:23 left in the first that took him out for the rest of the half. Freshman wing Levi Bradley
broke an NIU scoring drought after he hit a mid-range jumper over Toledo center Nathan Boothe to cut the Rockets’ lead to 19-12. Junior guard Aaric Armstead drove for layups on back-to-back possessions to trim Toledo’s lead to 23-21. Baker hit a three at the 2:30 mark to cut Toledo’s lead to one, and knocked down a transition three to put the Huskies in front 27-25. NIU went into the break with a 29-27 lead. Toledo cut the lead to five points on a three pointer by Boothe, but that was as close as the Rockets got to the Huskies in the final minutes. Baker hit two free throws with about 30 seconds left to seal the game for the home team. Both teams shot 31.1 percent (19-61) for the game. NIU scored 14 points off of 18 Toledo turnovers. Toledo scored 14 points off of 13 NIU turnovers. Toledo had zero fast break points but edged NIU 20-16 in points in the paint. Both teams had 12 second chance points and the Huskies held a 7-6 edge in assists. Baker led the Huskies with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Armstead and Bradley contributed 12 points each. Boothe led the Rockets, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. “Our team is built on defense and rebounding,” said Huskies head coach Mark Montgomery. “If you look at the stats before the game, Toledo is number one in all the
Atlee Hargis | Northern Star
Junior guard Aaric Armstead celebrates following a play in Friday’s contest against Toledo. Armstead scored 12 points and snagged eight rebounds as the Huskies defeated the Rockets 58-49 to remain undefeated at home this season.
offensive categories. We’re number one and number two in all the defensive categories. You have more off nights on offense. You can’t have off nights on defense. “I thought our guys did a great job of locking down their offensive players… we did enough
offensively to win the game. Levi Bradley surely stepped up, Jaylen Key stepped up on the defensive end when Marin wasn’t available. And then [Travon] Baker, he’s being [Baker] when he makes clutch shots, free throws, threes and Aaric Armstead, double-figure
Freshman class making impact Krystal Ward Staff writer
DeKalb | Men’s basketball has
to the Classic Suburban Conference title in 2013-14, averaging 23.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He averaged 26 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game as a senior at HillMurray. The freshman was the 2015 St. Paul Pioneer Press Player of the Year and a 2015 Minnesota AP All-State First Team honoree. Fun fact: Wilson also played football at Hill-Murray. He rushed for 1,056 yards and 12 touchdowns while also catching 22 passes for 313 yards and four touchdowns as a senior.
gotten great contributions from its freshman class this season, helping the team earn a spot at the top of its conference. Freshmen Marshawn Wilson, Levi Bradley, Laytwan Porter, Jaylen Key and Austin Pauga have combined to score 36.5 percent of NIU’s total points this season. Head coach Mark Montgomery said earlier in the season that some of the team’s best shooters come off of the bench, and the freshmen have proven that to be true. There’s one key component Laytwan Porter each player brings when they Hometown: Rockford come into the game: energy. High School: Auburn High School Position: Guard Marshawn Wilson Porter averages 2.5 assists per Hometown: Oakdale, Minn. game and is third on the team in High School: Hill-Murray total assists with 45 behind senior School guard Travon Baker (75) and juPosition: Guard nior guard Michael Orris (58). Wilson is fourth on the team Though the freshman is averagin scoring, averaging 10.5 points ing just 5.0 points per game in 17.6 per game for the Huskies in 16.7 minutes so far this season, he runs minutes per game, and is shoot- the offense effectively, finds his ing 43 percent from the field in 15 open teammates and is energetic games. Wilson has led the team and aggressive on the defensive in scoring three times this sea- end, making his minutes valuable. son coming off of the bench. He Porter averaged 17.7 points, scored 16 points in a Nov. 13 win 4.6 assists, 3.3 steals and 2.8 reagainst Cal State Northridge, 17 bounds per game as a senior at points in a Nov. 21 victory against Auburn High School. He led the Eureka and 24 points in a Dec. 4 Knights to back-to-back NIC-10 affair with Missouri. Wilson is conference championships. second in scoring among freshPorter was named to the 2015 men in the MAC. Illinois AP and Chicago SunWilson helped lead Hill Murray Times Class 4A Second Team
and finished 15th in voting for the 2015 Illinois Mr. Basketball award. Fun Fact: Porter attended the same high school as Wichita State All-American Fred VanVleet.
The forward is averaging 18.8 minutes per game this season, fifth on the team. Key was ranked as the seventhbest player in Wisconsin by Scout. com and 10th by 247 Sports. He was a 2015 Wisconsin Basketball Levi Bradley Coaches Association Division 1 Hometown: Milwaukee, Wis. First Team All-State honoree and High School: Pius XI High was selected to the 2015 WisconSchool sin AP All-State third team. Position: Wing Fun Fact: Key is the son of forBradley led the team in scoring mer Marquette University forand rebounds on Jan. 2 in a win ward Damon Key. against Judson with 19 points and 10 boards. He leads the team in Austin Pauga free throw percentage (79 percent) Hometown: Naperville and is third in rebounds, averaging High School: IMG Academy 3.8 per game. Bradley is fifth on the Position: Guard team in blocked shots. Pauga has only played 11 games Bradley led Pius XI to the Wood- this season due to an injury early land West division title while averag- in the season, but he is still one of ing 21.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per the Huskies’ best shooters. Pauga game as a senior. is shooting 48 percent on threeFun fact: Bradley also played pointers and is shooting 53 pervolleyball for three seasons at Pius cent overall despite not playing XI, earning all-conference honors. many games so far. The guard is averaging 4.2 Jaylen Key points in 12.5 minutes so far, but Hometown: Milwaukee, Wis. he spaces the floor for his teamHigh School: Homestead High mates because of his ability to School shoot and keep defenses honest. Position: Forward He can continue to be a factor if Key is averaging 6.1 points this he remains healthy. season. He is fifth on the team in Pauga helped lead the IMG both field goal percentage (51 per- Academy Postgraduate Team to a cent) and field goal attempts with No. 2 national ranking and 23-4 4.8 per game. overall record. Key ranks third on the team in Fun fact: Pauga transferred to rebounds, averaging 4 a game and IMG Academy in 2013 after preis second behind sophomore cen- viously attending Naperville Center Marin Maric in blocked shots. tral High School.
game, very solid but he shut down [Jonathan] Williams and that was a huge key to the game.” The Huskies return to action as they travel to Akron, Ohio to take on the Zips. They will move to 17-3 with a win. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday.
In Brief
Streak up to 6 for women’s ball Joren Apiquian Staff writer
DeKalb | Women’s basketball (8-10, 1-6 MAC) fell to Ohio (15-3, 7-0 MAC) 72-47 on Saturday, dropping its sixth consecutive game. Ohio shot 43.9 percent from the field for the game, holding NIU to just 31.5 percent. Missed free throws also came back to haunt the Huskies in the blowout loss. They shot 68.8 percent from behind the line and 11 percent from three, never getting the chance to get their offense going. The Huskies surrendered 23 turnovers throughout the game. NIU’s only true advantage came in rebounding. It outrebounded the Bobcats 40-35. NIU’s biggest letdown occurred in the third quarter. The team scored only five points in the third period, allowing Ohio to build its lead and wrap up the game. Head coach Lisa Carlsen spoke on the blowout loss, citing careless mistakes as a key factor. “We gave them too many opportunities, giving them the basketball and turning it over,” she said. “A lot of those led to second chance opportunities. It was a problem for us in the first half and it didn’t get a lot better in the second half.” The team will look to end its current losing streak as it hits the road this week, taking on Kent State at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Kent, Ohio.