Jan. 22, 2011

Final Stats |  Complete Box Score

Western Michigan 82, Northern Illinois 80 University Arena | Kalamazoo, Mich.

1st 2nd Final Northern Illinois 40 40 80 Western Michigan 34 48 82 Box Score | Box Score Attendance: 3,311  Player of the Game Xavier Silas Points: 23 FG: 8-15 (.533) FT: 5-6 (.825) Rebounds: 6    Team Stats NIU OPP  FG Percentage 52.5 54.5  3-Point FG Percentage 55.6 50.0  FT Percentage 57.1 72.2  Offensive Rebounds 8 8  Defensive Rebounds 19 24  Total Rebounds 27 32  Assists 12 12  Turnovers 11 13  Blocks 4 3  Steals 8 4  Points in the Paint 32 38  Points off Turnovers 20 18  Men's Basketball Quick Links · 2010-11 Schedule/Results · 2010-11 Statistics · Head Coach Ricardo Patton

 

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Matt Stainbrook tipped in an offensive rebound with less than a second to play as the Northern Illinois men's basketball team fell, 82-80, to Western Michigan on Saturday afternoon at University Arena. The Huskies made the initial defensive stop on the play and nearly forced overtime but were unable to keep the 6-foot-9 Stainbrook from tapping home the decisive basket.

Senior guard Xavier Silas led NIU with a game-high 23 points and a team-best six rebounds. Junior forward Tim Toler added 18 points, including four three-pointers, and senior guard Jeremy Landers chipped in 12 points as NIU's last two defeats have come by a combined four points.

"It was a great game from a fan's standpoint," said NIU head coach Ricardo Patton. "It went back-and-forth, give Western (Michigan) credit, they battled back and did a nice job of taking the lead. Then our guys did a nice job of tying the ballgame but unfortunately we couldn't get a last stop to go into overtime."

Western Michigan overcame in a six-point halftime deficit in the contest with with 62.1 percent (18-of-29) shooting in the second half; the Broncos shot 54.5 percent (30-of-55) overall in the game. The Huskies were 52.5 percent (31-of-59) from the field in the contest.

"I think this team is very, very close," said Patton. "This team has shown the ability to play some very good basketball. We aren't taking our eyes off the prize, there is a lot of season still to play."

Northern Illinois raced out to a 10-0 advantage in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the contest. Toler opened the scoring with a triple from the wing, Landers then added an old-fashioned three-point play and Silas and Hall chipped in layups, forcing an early Western Michigan timeout.

Hall finished with five points and five assists with just one turnover.

The Huskies lead reached 13, 16-3, on a pull-up jumper by Silas with 14:57 to play in the half.

The Broncos cut the lead to eight before another triple by Toler and a three-point play by Silas pushed the NIU advantage back to 14, the largest of the half, 26-12, just past the midway point of the half.

A 14-5 run for Western Michigan helped the Broncos close the gap to just five, 35-30, with 3:26 remaining before the intermission.

WMU pulled within three until redshirt freshman guard Antone Christian knocked down a three from the corner with five seconds left in the half to give Northern Illinois a 40-34 lead at the intermission.

Silas and Western Michigan's Flenard Whitfield each scored nine points in the opening 20 minutes to lead their respective teams. NIU shot 58.6 percent (17-of-29) in the first half while Western Michigan was 12-of-26 (46.2 percent) from the field in the opening stanza.

Western Michigan used an 8-0 run early in the second half to take its first lead of the day, 47-46. The run reached 10-0 before a runner from Landers and a triple from Christian put NIU back on top, 51-49, with 13:26 to play in the half.

Christian finished with a career-best eight points off the bench for Northern Illinois.

The Broncos responded with a 10-0 run to take a 59-51 lead until Silas ended the run with a three from the corner with 10:42 to play.

Toler started an 8-0 for the Huskies with a put back and, following a Silas layup, Toler capped the burst with a triple to bring NIU back within a pair, 63-61.

A trifecta from senior guard Michael Patton tied the game, 72-72, with 3:29 to play and NIU regained the lead with a pair of free throws from Silas.

The game swung between a two-point NIU lead and a tie game, until Western Michigan got a defensive stop and a basket to take a 78-76 advantage with just over a minute to play. Another WMU stop helped the Broncos lead reached four before junior forward Lee Fisher went to the line for NIU. Fisher made the first, missed the second, but the Huskies grabbed an offensive rebound and Silas buried a three with 16 seconds to play, tying the game 80-80.

Western Michigan came down and called a timeout with eight seconds to play to draw up a final play. Demetrius Ward drove to the basket and missed the shot, but Stainbrook was there to give the Broncos the two-point win.

Stainbrook led five Broncos in double figures with 18 points. Ward and Whitfield each added 15 while Alex Wolf came off the bench to add 14 and Nate Hutcheson scored 13 points.

The Huskies will return home to the NIU Convocation Center on Wednesday, Jan. 26, when they host Akron. Game time against the Zips is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be shown live on SportsTime Ohio and ESPN3.com, and on tape delay on Comcast SportsNet Chicago.