If there was a positive note to be sounded out after Northern Illinois`
65-61 loss to Eastern Illinois on Saturday, it was in the late-game poise exhibited by reserve forward Marlin Simms.
The freshman out of Nashville entered the game shooting only 37.9 percent from the field, and though he finished with a 2-of-6 performance against the Panthers, those two field goals were huge ones in the Huskies` belated comeback from a 13-point deficit.
Shortly after hitting a three-pointer to pull NIU within five, Simms rebounded a missed free throw and proceeded to swish another three to cut the Eastern lead to 2. The Huskies eventually lost when Curtis Leib went inside to score the game-winner with 3 seconds left.
Still, NIU coach Brian Hammel was enthused with Simms` confidence in his three-point shot.
”I like to see that Marlin has the confidence and boldness to take a shot like that,” Hammel said.
Simms was 20 of 70 (.286) on three-pointers before the game.
The Huskies (10-15, 7-8) have two games left in the regular season, beginning Monday at Wright State, to get their act in gear before the Mid-Continent Conference tournament begins on March 8 in Cleveland. Other than Simms` hot hand in the final minutes, Hammel found little else to cling onto after Saturday`s loss. Though NIU outrebounded Eastern 35-28, the Huskies shot only 40 percent, and leading scorers Mike Hidden and Brian Molis were a combined 9 of 25.
”We weren`t crisp in anything we did from an offensive or defensive standpoint, until the last couple of minutes,” Hammel said. ”We really put ourselves behind the eight ball.”
Credit a small but vociferous crowd of 2,795 for helping the Huskies fight back into the game. Imagine what might happen if the student body actually started supporting its team.
