DEKALB, Ill. – The Roosevelt men's basketball team took a brief break from regular season play with a challenging road exhibition contest at NCAA Division I Northern Illinois, and the host Huskies jumped ahead early before getting a second-half battle from the Lakers as the Green and White fell by a final of 85-50 on Tuesday night.

Quin Riggins led the Lakers with 13 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field.

Matt Myers added seven points, while four other Lakers tallied six points apiece.

Mark Johnson and Brian Kern corralled six boards each, and Tariq Archibald handed out four assists.

Eugene German led all scorers with 19 points for NIU.

Roosevelt struggled in the opening half, making just four of 31 shots from the floor as the Huskies took advantage and jumped ahead.

The Lakers looked like a different team after intermission, shooting nearly 50 percent and hanging with the hosts.

"This was a tale of two of two halves where we couldn't buy a bucket in the first, but played much better in the second half, getting outscored 46-40," Roosevelt head coach Joe Griffin said. "The final score is not indicative of how beneficial this game was for us. Quin and Tariq were very solid, and we got contributions from several guys. Northern is a very good team who will be at the top of the MAC this year, I predict."

The Lakers have a quick turnaround, hosting their home opener on Wednesday against Aquinas (Mich.). Tip-off is 7 p.m. at the Goodman Center.