MOSCOW, Idaho – A furious second half comeback attempt came up just short, as Idaho (4-3) fell to Northern Illinois (6-0), 66-59, on Saturday night in Memorial Gym.

“This is a good team we just played,” said head coach Don Verlin.  “It was a physical game.  I thought we had a lot of good looks we just didn't make them.  There are a lot of guys on this team that haven't played a ton of minutes.  I really like the way our team fights.  We had a chance to give in there in the second half, but we didn't.  We fought back and had a chance to win this game.”

NIU led by as many as 12 points in the second half, but Idaho kept fighting, cutting the lead to just four inside the final minute of play.  The clock proved to be the biggest obstacle for the Vandals, as their comeback effort came up just short in the final minutes.

Victor Sanders led the Vandals in scoring yet again, finishing with 17 points on the night.  Perrion Callandret chipped in with 14 points of his own, including one stretch in the second half where he connected on a 3-pointer, a difficult layup and another 3 on consecutive attempts.  Nahshon George also finished in double-figures, scoring 12 points.

NIU won the battle of the boards, 41-33.  Idaho struggled at the free throw line all night, shooting just 59.3 percent (16-of-27).  The Vandals shot 34.0 percent (18-of-53) from the field and 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from beyond the arc.

The first half was a back-and-forth contest, with NIU taking a two-point advantage into the locker rooms.

Next up, the Vandals host CSU-Bakersfield in a rematch, on December 2.  Check back with GoVandals.com for more information as the game gets closer.

Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Idaho men's basketball by following the team on twitter, @VandalHoops.

For more information on Idaho Athletics, visit GoVandals.com.  Fans can also find Idaho on Twitter and Instagram, @Idaho_Vandals, or on Facebook by searching Idaho Vandals