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DEKALB, Ill. -- The Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team tied a school record with 14 three-pointers on Friday night on its way to an 80-69 victory over Ball State at the NIU Convocation Center. With the victory, the Huskies reached the 20-win plateau for just the fourth time in school history.

NIU will host Western Michigan on Monday night, March 7, in the First Round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament. Tickets for that game are available for $10 via Ticketmaster, by calling 815-753-PACK (7225) or at the NIU Convocation Center Ticket Office.

Junior Aaric Armstead (Chicago, Ill./La Jolla Prep) led a team effort of five players in double figures with 14 points, freshman Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) added 13 points, senior Chuks Iroegbu (Sacramento, Calif./Franklin/City College of San Francisco) chipped in 12 while senior Travon Baker (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Consortium) and freshman Marshawn Wilson (Oakdale, Minn./Hill-Murray) each scored 11 points.

“I’m so happy for Travon Baker and Chuks Iroegbu, their last (regular season home) game is going to be very memorable,” said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. “It is always hard to play on senior day and I thought they both played well. I thought the guys rallied behind them.

“We rebounded as a team, we were very efficient shooting the three, we shared the ball, we defended and we found a way to win the game. Our second unit was huge, (Michael) Orris, (Levi) Bradley, (Andrew) Zelis and (Laytwan) Porter, they stretched out the lead and gave us a lot of momentum.”

Armstead knocked down four triples in the contest, Wilson and freshman Laytwan Porter (Rockford, Ill./Auburn) each netted three as the Huskies tied a school record set on Feb. 27, 1988 at Chicago State.

Tied 7-7, Ball State scored the next four to take an 11-7 lead early in the contest. The Cardinal lead was still four until a 10-0 run pushed the Huskies in front, 20-14. Armstead opened the run with a triple, Porter added a trifecta before freshman Jaylen Key (Milwaukee, Wis./Homestead) and Iroegbu chipped in layups as NIU took a six-point lead with 11:34 to play in the opening half.

Key finished with eight points, five rebounds and three assists.
 
Ball State (19-12, 10-8 MAC) responded with the next five to cut the Huskie lead to one before a jumper from Baker pushed the Huskie advantage to three, 22-19, with 8:28 left before the break.
 
Baker’s jumper ignited a 12-3 burst that gave NIU a 32-22 lead with just over five minutes to play in the half. Wilson and Armstead each knocked down triples during the burst while Bradley added a bucket and Baker finished the run with a layup on the break.

Baker recorded four assists and three steals to go along with his 11 points on senior night.  
 
The Cardinals scored the next seven to trim the Huskie lead to just three with less than three minutes to play in the half, but a trifecta from Porter and a layup from Iroegbu, off a dish from Porter, gave the Huskies a 37-29 lead at the intermission.

NIU (20-11, 9-9 MAC) shot 50 percent (15-of-30) from the field in the first half, including 50 percent (7-of-14) from three.

The NIU lead was six, 44-38, with just under 15 minutes to play before Bradley scored seven-straight points, pushing the Huskie advantage to 51-38 with 13:31 left.

After a basket by the Cardinals, Bradley knocked down another triple and Porter dialed long distance as the NIU lead grew to 17, the largest of the night, 57-40, with 11:41 remaining.

Ball State cut the lead back to just eight, 59-51, with a little over nine minutes to play, but the Huskies scored six of the next nine points, four from Iroegbu and two from Key, to push the lead back to a dozen.

The Cardinals split a pair of free throws and Baker connected on another triple for the Huskies as the NIU lead grew back to 14 with 6:36 to play.

NIU shot 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from the field in the second half, including 70 percent (7-of-10) from three, to finish the game shooting 50.8 percent (30-of-59) from the field and 58.3 percent (14-of-24) from three. The NIU bench outscored its counterparts 24-3 in the contest.

Franko House led all scorers with 19 points for Ball State, Francis Kiapway added 16, Ryan Weber had 14 and Jeremie Tyler scored 13 points for the Cardinals.

The Huskies will be the No. 7 seed in the MAC Tournament and host No. 10 Western Michigan on Monday night at the NIU Convocation Center. Ball State will be the sixth seed and host 11th-seeded Miami on Monday.  

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