Bowling Green State University men’s basketball coach Michael Huger finally got the defensive effort he was looking for.

The Falcons got 11 players into the scoring column and held Northern Illinois to 33% shooting (21-for-64) during an 87-65 win over the Huskies.

The Mid-American Conference game at the Stroh Center Saturday was the Second Annual Eracism Game, a subject important to BGSU coach Michael Huger’s heart.

“It was big to be able to be a part of this today and all the schools and universities around the country have done a great job of supporting it and we just wanted to carry on the tradition,” Huger said.

The win pushes BGSU above .500 on the season at 12-11, while being 5-7 in MAC play. Northern Illinois falls to 6-14 and 3-7 in the league.

BGSU never trailed, holding the Huskies to 25% (7-for-28) shooting from beyond the arc.

The Falcons did not allow the Huskies to reach double digit points until sophomore guard Keshawn Williams hit two free throws with 7:07 remaining in the first half, and by then BGSU was already up 24-11.

Williams scored 30 points during the Falcons 92-83 win (Jan. 18) in DeKalb, Illinois, and this time he still managed to score 20, but not without working for every point.

“The guys really performed today on the defensive end,” Huger said. “They held each other accountable, which is what I’ve been asking for.

“They did a great job of being in the right spot in help side, rebounding the ball, and we did everything that I wanted us to do.

“Now it was to carry over — that’s the biggest thing, not being satisfied and wanting to have more,” Huger said.

BGSU junior forward Joe Reece added, “This is something that we’ve been preaching, and our coaches have been preaching since the summer. It’s good to see that things finally worked the way that you want it to.

“For the past couple days in practice, we’ve been trying to change things up on our defensive end and it’s good to those changes are starting to show up in a positive way.”

Meanwhile, BGSU graduate forward Trey Diggs hit 6-of-9 shots from beyond the arc and led the Falcons with 18 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Diggs credited fifth year forward Daeqwon Plowden and Reece for finding him on the perimeter for open looks. The team’s 20 assists are the second most by the Falcons this season.

“’Dae’ and Joe do such a good job of getting points in the paint, points in the post, that teams have no choice but to try and double-team them and help more,” Diggs said.

“Then they do a great job, if they get double-teamed, passing out and finding the open man, and also the guards were making one more pass. When you start knocking down shots it feels great,” Diggs continued.

Reece had 17 points, making 6-of-8 field goals, and four rebounds and Plowden had 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and blocked two shots.

Plowden scored four of the Falcons’ first six points, taking him over the 1,500 mark for his career. Plowden is the 13th player in program history to reach the milestone. Plowden concluded the night by bringing his career mark to 1,510 and moving up to 12th on the all-time scoring list.

Plowden scored on an offensive rebound to put the Falcons up 26-11 with 6:40 remaining in the first half, but late in the half Northern Illinois senior guard Trendon Hankerson got hot from downtown.

Hankerson hit three treys to end the first half and a fourth to open the second half, and before you knew it BGSU’s lead was cut to four, 38-34, one minute into the second half.

However, the Falcons regrouped defensively, with Diggs scoring on an assist from Plowden and Reece scoring in transition off a steal by Diggs to put BGSU back up 64-46 with 10 minutes remaining.

The Falcons shot 45% (30-for-67) from the field, including 11-for-25 (44%) from beyond the arc and connected on 16-of-18 free throws (89%).

BGSU outrebounded Northern, 45-39, and as in nearly every other game this season, the Falcons’ bench outscored the Huskies’ bench, 36-18. The Falcons had 36 points in the paint to the Huskies’ 26.

BGSU junior guard Samari Curtis had nine points, five rebounds and four assists, and graduate guard Myron Gordon had nine points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Senior forward Matiss Kulackovskis had six points, five rebounds and three assists, sophomore guard Brenton Mills scored five points and junior forward Gabe O’Neal added four points.

Junior forward Chandler Turner, sophomore guard Josiah Fulcher and junior Isaac Elsasser added two points each for the Falcons. Fulcher had four rebounds.

Besides his scoring contribution, Williams also had seven rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Huskies, and Hankerson finished with 15 points and six rebounds.

Northern senior center Adong Mukuoi scored eight points, senior forward Chinedu Kingsley Okanu had four points and six rebounds, and junior guard Kaleb Thornton and freshman guard Zool Kueth scored four apiece.

Junior guard Darweshi Hunter and freshman guard Zion Russell scored three points each and freshman guard Noah Kon and junior guard Edward Manuel contributed two points each for the Huskies.

Diggs and Reece say that if the Falcons can keep up the defensive intensity, this team could do big things down the stretch.

“If we can keep opponents down, we’ll be the best team in the MAC,” Diggs said. “There is no doubt about it.”

Reece added, “I feel like defensively, that’s the thing that we need to focus on. It shows that we can score. It shows that all five players have the ability to put the ball in the basket.

“But we really need to focus on getting a stop on the other end because defense wins championships and also defense will also get you the transition and easy buckets,” Reece continued.