ROCKFORD, Ill. - Host Northern Illinois (11-5, 1-0 MAC) took the doubles point and won five of the six singles matches to defeat Binghamton men's tennis (3-11, 0-1 MAC) Friday afternoon at the Boylan Tennis Center.

Sophomore No. 3 Kushaan Nath provided BU with its lone win - a 7-5, 6-1 triumph. Nath's win quickly tied the team score at 1-1 and the Bearcats pushed three other singles matches to a third-set but came up short in all three. 

"We fought hard today and the team pulled together to support each other with passion and intensity," head coach Nick Zieziula said. "We put ourselves in great positions - up 3-2 serving at both No. 1 and 2 doubles - but we lacked the confidence and conviction to see it through. Likewise in singles, we took four first-sets but didn't close out the whole way through. Credit to NIU for not giving in when they were down."

Binghamton stays in Rockford to face Ball State in a neutral-site match at 2 p.m. Saturday. 

NIU 6, Binghamton 1

DOUBLES
1. Georg Lundkvist/Bor Schweiger Muzar (NIU) vs. Kushaan Nath/Tiago Lourenco (Bing), 5-3 unfinished
2. Eric Marbach/Kristopher Ortega (NIU) def. Inigo Saez/Alejandro Pena (Bing), 6-4
3. Louis-Philippe Hamel/Tom Hjertonsson (NIU) def. Ludovico Cestarollo/Sebastian Quiros (Bing), 6-1

Order of Finish: 3,2

SINGLES
1. Kristopher Ortega (NIU) def. Tiago Lourenco (Bing), 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
2. Eric Marbach (NIU) def. Ludovico Cestarollo (Bing), 6-2, 6-4
3. Kushaan Nath (Bing) def. Georg Lundkvist (NIU), 7-5, 6-1
4. Louis-Philippe Hamel (NIU) def. Sebastian Quiros (Bing), 5-7, 6-3, 10-7
5. Bor Schweiger Muzar (NIU) def. Inigo Saez (Bing), 1-6, 7-5, 6-2
6. Tom Hjertonsson (NIU) def. Alejandro Pena (Bing), 6-3, 6-4

Order of Finish: 3,6,2,1,5,6