Final Stats

MT. PLEASANT, Mich. -- Sophomore Marin Maric (Split, Croatia/La Lumiere School) recorded his seventh-straight double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds but the Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team fell, 76-64, to Central Michigan on Tuesday night at McGuirk Arena.

Senior Travon Baker (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Consortium) chipped in 10 points but the Huskies shot just 36.1 percent (22-of-61) as a team. Central Michigan shot 44.3 percent (27-of-61) in the contest and knocked down 10 triples.

“It seemed like Central Michigan was a step quicker than us,” said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. “They shoot a lot of threes, so there are going to be a lot of long rebounds and 50/50 balls, and it seemed like we didn’t come up with many. We didn’t do ourselves any favors, we shot the ball too quick offensively and put ourselves in a hole.

“In the second half we had more patience, played better defense, came back and took the lead. The game was up for grabs and they made too many shots.”

A layup by freshman Laytwan Porter (Rockford, Ill./Auburn) cut an early Central Michigan lead to five, 13-8, but the Chippewas scored the next seven to take a 20-8 lead with just under 12 minutes to play in the opening half.

Porter finished with eight points.

NIU (18-10, 7-8 MAC) scored seven of the next nine to trim the Chippewas lead back to seven, 22-15, but Central Michigan answered with the next six as they pushed their lead to 28-15 with 7:33 left before the intermission.

The Huskies answered right back with a 10-1 run to cut the Central Michigan lead to just four, 29-25, with just over four minutes to play in the half. Junior Michael Orris (Crete, Ill./Crete-Monee/Kansas State) opened the run with a short jumper, Porter and freshman Jaylen Key (Milwaukee, Wis./Homestead) added free throws during the run while Key and Baker knocked down baseline jumpers, forcing a Central Michigan timeout.

Key finished with eight points, including 3-of-3 shooting from the field.

NIU still trailed by four into the final minutes of the half until Central Michigan scored the final four points of the opening 20 minutes to take a 39-31 lead into the break.

Trailing by nine, NIU used a 10-0 run to take its first lead of the night, 43-42, with 16:46 left. Maric opened the run with a pair of layups; Baker added a three, during which he was fouled, and he converted from the line for the four-point play to bring NIU within one. Central Michigan then received a bench technical foul and Baker knocked down both free throws to push the Huskies in front.

Central Michigan (15-13, 8-7 MAC) used a 9-2 run to go back in front, 51-45, with 13 minutes left.

A triple from freshman Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) late in the shot clock brought the Huskies within one, 53-52, but Central Michigan scored the next eight, taking a 61-52 lead with just under eight minutes to play.

The Huskies would claw back within five, 61-56, but Central Michigan score six of the next eight and never looked back.

John Simons led the Chippewas with 17 points, Chris Fowler added 16, Josh Kozinski had 15 and Braylon Rayson chipped in 10 points for Central Michigan.

The Huskies will return home on Saturday, Feb. 27, when they host Western Michigan in the second half of a doubleheader at the NIU Convocation Center. Game time against the Broncos is slated for 3:30 p.m.