The Niles boys basketball team used one good quarter Tuesday night to turn back Portage Northern’s upset bid.

The Vikings erupted for 23 third quarter points in their 67-50 victory over the Huskies in Big 16 West Division play.

Niles (13-1, 9-1 West)  led by just five points, 26-21, coming out of the locker room at halftime.

Austin Parks canned a pair of 3-pointers and finished with eight of the Vikings’ 23 points to ignite Niles at the offensive end.

“I thought our defensive effort tonight was a disgrace to the word effort tonight,” Niles coach Todd Pawielski said. “We did have one good quarter. I thought we did a great job on the defensive boards, but we just kind of stood around too much on offense inside.

“I was very pleased with our third quarter. We came out and played like we can. We made some shots and our energy level went up. Austin Parks hit some shots in the third quarter.”

The Vikings and Huskies (3-12, 1-9 West) were deadlocked after one quarter at 12-12. Niles managed to open up a five-point advantage by the end of the half and stretched it to 49-27 heading into the final quarter.

Parks finished with 18 points and three steals, while Myles Busby added 17 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals. Matthew McLaughlin finished with 11 points and three assists.

Tyler Holland and Brandon Smith each had 12 points for the Huskies.

PORTAGE NORTHERN 50

Justin Eustice 3 1-2 8; Justin Borgman 0 0-0 0; Tyler Holland 6 0-0 12; Zack Penn 3 0-0 6; Collin Darling 0 0-0 0; Steve Tagett 0 0-0 0; Brandon Smith 6 0-0 12; Kory Stratton 2 0-2 4; Adam Vizard 3 2-2 8; Josh Dentler 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23 3-6 50

NILES 67

Myles Busby 5 5-5 17; Matthew McLaughlin 5 0-0 11; Austin Parks 7 2-2 18; Logan Harpenau 1 1-2 3; Alec Brown 2 0-0 5; Aaron Pierce 0 0-0 0; Arias Williams 0 0-0 0; Anthony Bice 0 1-2 1; Taylor Campbell 2 0-0 4; Quintin Irby 2 2-6 6; Mitchell Dehn 0 2-4 2. TOTALS: 24 13-21 67

Northern 12 21 27 50

Niles 12 26 49 67

3-point baskets: Portage Northern 1 (Eustice), Niles 6 (Busby 2, McLaughlin, Parks 2, Brown). Total fouls (fouled out): Portage Northern 16 (none), Niles 12 (none). Varsity records: Portage Northern 3-12, 1-9 West; Niles 13-1, 9-1 West