EVANSTON, Ill. (December 30, 2025) —Sophomore forward Travelle Bryson (Anderson, S.C.) came off the bench to score a season-high 19 points and senior guard Ose Okojie (Brampton, Canada) added 13 points, but a combination of foul trouble and free throw shooting proved to be too much to overcome as the Howard University men's basketball team fell, 80-60, to Northwestern (8-5) at the Welsh-Arena Arena.
 
The loss snapped a season-best five game win streak for the Bison.
 
Howard battled its Big Ten opponent through the first half and trailed only three points, 31-28, courtesy of Bryson, a sophomore transfer from Vincennes College. The South Carolina native tallied 12 points and kept his team within striking distance in the opening stanza.
 
The early part of the second half was pretty much the same until Howard (9-6) got into foul trouble, most notably, graduate guard Bryce Harris (Brentwood, N.Y.), the team's leading scorer and rebounder. Harris, who ranks among the nation's leaders in multiple statistical categories, was unable to get going. The 6-foot-4 guard finished with four points and four rebounds, both season lows before fouling out after having logged only 20 minutes.
 
Then, Okojie came alive and picked up the slack, but he too got into foul trouble that limited his productivity.
 
The Wildcats capitalized on the Bison's woes by going to the foul line 34 times and converting 22 times while Howard made the trip only 13 times. The Bison were whistled for 22 fouls.
 
The chief beneficiary for the Wildcats was Nick Marinelli, ranked nationally in several statistical categories. Martinelli finished with a game-high 32 points, 21 coming after intermission as he went 10-of-20 from the floor and 11-of-14 from the charity stripe.
 
His teammate Tre Singleton added 17 points and eight assists and Justin Mullins came off the bench with 12 points in the win.
 
For the Bison, no other players reached double figures in scoring besides Bryson and Okojie.
 
Junior guard Cam Gillus (Falls Church, Va.) came into the game averaging over 12.0 points in his last six games. The junior transfer from Lehigh finished with six points but he dished out a team-high seven assists.
 
Junior guard Cedric Taylor III (Atlanta), who came into the game scoring in double figures the past four games in which he has played, contributed 5 points in a losing cause.
 
Junior guard Alex Cotton (Carrollton, Texas), who has missed the last three games with an injury, returned to the lineup and contributed six points in limited playing time.
 
The good news for the Bison is that it appears that the team is finally healthy, heading into league play.
 
NEXT UP: Howard travels to Orangeburg, S.C., to take on the Bulldogs of South Carolina State in the MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) opener Saturday (Jan. 3) at 4 p.m.
 
For more information, visit the official Howard Athletics website www.hubison.com.