DEKALB, Ill. – Four players scored in double figures as the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team earned its fourth-straight win, 62-58, over Miami (Ohio) on Tuesday night at the NIU Convocation Center. Freshman Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) scored a team-high 12 points and senior Marin Maric (Split, Croatia/La Lumiere School) posted his 17th career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. 

Senior Dontel Highsmith (Dowagiac, Mich./Dowagiac) and sophomore Jaylen Key (Milwaukee, Wis./Homestead) each added 10 points. 

NIU (12-6, 4-1 MAC) outrebounded Miami 38-29 in the contest and the Huskie bench outscored the RedHawk reserves, 28-6. 

"I thought we got a lot of good basketball out of a lot of players, we had four guys in double figures, we outrebounded (Miami), we had 28 points off the bench, they only had six, and we made more free throws (17) than they shot (11)," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "We just couldn't give the knockout punch for some reason, we were up nine and we were on the verge, but you have to credit Miami, they have a lot of fight in them."

Miami (8-10, 1-4 MAC) led by three until an 8-0 burst gave NIU a 14-9 lead just past the midway point of the opening half. Sophomore Marshawn Wilson (Oakdale, Minn./Hill-Murray) opened the run with a free throw, Key and Maric each added layups and Highsmith capped the burst with a triple as the Huskies took a five-point lead. 

The RedHawks responded with the next six to take a 15-14 advantage with 6:58 to play before the break, but NIU answered with the next 10. Sophomore Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) opened the run for the Huskies, freshman Justin Thomas (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) added a fastbreak layup, Wilson made a pair of free throws and German made a pair of driving layups as the Huskies took a 24-15 lead with four minutes to play in the opening stanza. 

A triple from Highsmith pushed the Huskie advantage to nine, its largest of the first half, before Miami closed the scoring with a layup as the Huskies took a 31-24 lead into the intermission. 

Highsmith led NIU with eight points in the opening 20 minutes; Michael Weathers led all scorers with 10 at the break. 

NIU led by nine until a five-point burst from the RedHawks cut the Huskie advantage to just 37-33 a little less than five minutes into the second half. 

With the Huskies leading still leading by four, Maric and freshman Noah McCarty (Rock Falls, Ill./Sterling Newman) connected on a back-to-back baskets as the Huskies doubled their advantage to 51-43 with just over eight minutes to play. 

A free throw from Key pushed the NIU lead up to nine with 3:26 left, but Miami answered with the next five to trim the Huskie lead to just 57-53 with 2:15 to play. 

NIU made four of six free throws over the next two minutes as the Huskies increased their lead to five; Miami then made a pair from the line with 14 seconds to play, pulling the RedHawks within a possession, but Maric sealed the victory with a free throw with 7.7 seconds left as NIU earned its fourth consecutive victory, and its eighth in the last nine games. 

Michael Weathers finished with 18 points for Miami to lead all scorers; Logan McLane added 12 points and Abdoulaye Harouna chipped in 10 points. 

The Huskies will continue their three-game homestand on Saturday, Jan. 21, when they host Ohio at 3:30 p.m., in the second game of a doubleheader with the NIU women's team playing at 1 pm.