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Feb. 12, 2008
AKRON, Ohio - Northern Illinois put together one of its best performances of the season in an improbable venue - Akron's Rhodes Arena - to earn its first road win of the year with a 88-78 victory over the Zips Tuesday. Akron came into the game riding a 22-game home winning streak, the fifth-longest streak in the country, and had won 25 straight MAC games at Rhodes Arena dating back to Feb. 9, 2005. With the win, Northern Illinois improved to 6-17 on the year, 3-8 in the Mid-American Conference, while Akron fell to 17-7, 7-4. "This certainly was one of our better games we played all season long. I don't think anyone gave us any kind of chance to win," said NIU Head Coach Ricardo Patton. "It's a tall order to come in here and get our first road win. It's a very difficult place to get that done." Northern Illinois shot 64.6 percent from the field, hitting 31 of 48 field goals, led by Darion "Jake" Anderson (Chicago, Ill./Carver) who made 8-of-11 from the field en route to a team season high 24 points. Anderson added 10 rebounds and seven assists on the night. Huskie guard Michael Patton (Boulder, Colo./Boulder HS) was equally as hot as the freshman scored 22 points while making 7-of-13 shots, including a team season-high five from three-point range. In all, five Huskies scored in double figures with Ben Rand (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle) joining Anderson with a double-double as he scored 11 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Shaun Logan (Eldridge, Iowa/North Scott) and Jarvis Nichols (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North) added 10 points each. "I've always said if you make shots, you can play with anyone," the senior Patton said. "Ben Rand is probably 65-75 percent ready to go, but he's such a warrior of a young man. He has a great understanding of how to play the game. Jake Anderson is strong enough to get the ball to the basket with a couple of defenders on him and he showed that." Northern Illinois trailed by nine in the first half before going on a 20-4 run that lasted from the 4:17 mark of the opening stanza to the 16:50 point of the second half. The Huskies took a 40-37 halftime lead despite 14 first-half turnovers, then never trailed in the second half. "I thought we pushed the ball well up the floor," Patton said. "Our defense was superb. Our guys did a terrific job of guarding the three-point shot." Akron, which came into the game making 39 percent of their three-pointers, made just 8 of 27 shots from three-point range. Northern Illinois returns to action Sunday, Feb. 17, when they play host to MAC West Division leader Western Michigan in the NIU Convocation Center. Tip-off is at 3 p.m. -- NIU --
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