DEKALB, Ill. – Junior Dante Thorpe (Washington, D.C./Triton College) scored a career-high 21 points and junior Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) scored 18 points with 10 rebounds for his fifth career double-double as the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team knocked off UIC, 69-63, on Thursday night at the NIU Convocation Center. 

Sophomore Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) scored in double figures for the 12th consecutive game to start the season with 13 points. 

NIU (7-5) forced 17 UIC turnovers, turning them into 17 points, while committing just nine turnovers in the contest. The Huskies bench scored 15 points to just one for the Flames reserves. 

"It was a hard fought, rivalry game. I thought both teams played extremely hard," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "It seemed like we couldn't get much separation but we did enough to win the game. Levi Bradley and Dante Thorpe, two huge games, Levi with a double-double 18 and 10, Dante with a career-high 21, and seven rebounds, and did a great job on (Dikembe) Dixson, held him to 11 points."

A triple by sophomore Justin Thomas (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) gave the Huskies a 9-7 lead in the early going, but UIC answered with the next six to take a four-point lead, 13-9, as the lead went back-and-forth in the early going. 

With UIC leading by three, 27-24, Bradley knocked down a triple and was fouled with 1:30 to play in the half. Bradley finished off the four-point play to give the Huskies a 28-27 lead. The Huskies and Flames traded baskets before Bradley canned another trifecta with 20 seconds left in the half to give the Huskies a 33-29 lead at the intermission. 

Bradley scored 11 points to pace the Huskies in the opening 20 minutes, Marcus Ottey scored 10 points to lead UIC. 

NIU extended its lead to seven early in the second half on a pair of baskets by Thorpe, but UIC responded with a 9-2 burst to pull even, 41-41, with 12:20 to play. 

After the Flames took their first lead of the second half, 44-43, NIU answered with the next eight to reclaim the lead, 51-44, with just over eight minutes to play. Thorpe ignited the burst with a triple, Bradley knocked down a pair of free throws and German added a three as the Huskies moved back in front by seven. 

The Huskies went 6-of-15 (40 percent) from behind the three-point line in the contest while the Flames were just 3-of-20 (15 percent) from beyond the arc. 

UIC (4-8) trimmed the NIU lead back to just a pair with 5:49 left when a pair of free throws by German sparked a 9-2 burst for the Huskies. Bradley, Thorpe and German added baskets during the run which was capped by a Thorpe free throw as the Huskies led 62-53 with 3:19 remaining. 

The Flames would claw back within five but NIU made 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute to earn a victory over UIC for the third-straight season. 

Dominique Matthews and Marcus Ottey each scored 17 points to lead the way for UIC, Jordan Blount added 13 points and 10 rebounds while Dikembe Dixson chipped in 11 points. 

Following a break for the Christmas holiday, NIU will return to action on Friday, Dec. 29, as the Huskies head to Iowa City, Iowa, for their final non-conference contest against the Hawkeyes. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.