DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's tennis team earned a 5-2 victory over Binghamton on Wednesday afternoon. With the win, the Huskies improved to 13-9 overall, 2-3 in Mid-American Conference play. 

For the sixth time in the last seven matches, the Huskies took the doubles point, doing so in dramatic fashion. After senior Carlos Manzanas (Madrid, Spain/IES Principe Felipe) and freshman Bor Schweiger Muzar (Crnomelj, Slovenia/Gimnm) opened the doubles with a 6-1 victory over Frenk Kote and Inigo Saez at number three, Binghamton (5-14, 0-4 MAC) earned a win at number one, meaning the point would come down to the match at number two.

Junior Tom Hjertonsson (Gothenburg, Sweden/Akademi Båstad Gymnasium) saved a pair of match points on his serve as he and junior Louis-Philippe Hamel (Drummondville, Quebec, Canada) outlasted Thomas Caputo and Vihar Shah in a tiebreak, 7-6, to give the point to the Huskies. 

"Doubles was key, we have been playing good doubles and I thought that in singles we played good too," said NIU head coach Patrick Fisher. "I thought we were capable of winning all six singles matches today. This was big, we needed this to stay alive. I didn't know how our guys would react to tough losses against Ball State and Toledo, but this team has a lot of character and that showed today."

Hamel claimed a comfortable 6-0, 6-1 win over Valentin Bouchet at number five singles for his 11th dual match win of the year, giving NIU a 2-0 overall lead. After a win at number one by Binghamton, Hjertonsson brought the Huskies within a point of victory as he defeated Caputo, 6-4, 6-4, at number four. 

Manzanas put the dual out of reach as he finished off a third-set, comeback win, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0, over Saez at number six. Junior Georg Lundkvist (Linkoping, Sweden/Lindkopings Kommun) then earned another victory for the Huskies, his 12th dual win of the season, with a three-set, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 win over Tiago Lourenco at number two. 

"This was one of the better matches we have played all year," said Fisher. "Not only did we win doubles, we won the singles, taking 4-of-6 singles matches. That is about as good as you can get coming down to the end of the season and I am excited for Sunday."

NIU will be back in action on Sunday, April 16, when the Huskies host Western Michigan. The match against the Broncos is scheduled for 11 a.m., and will take place at the West Tennis Courts on the NIU campus in DeKalb. 

NIU 5, Binghamton 2

Doubles
1. Kushaan Nath/Ludovico Cestarollo (Bing) def. Eric Marbach/Georg Lundkvist (NIU), 6-3
2. Louis-Philippe Hamel/Tom Hjertonsson (NIU) def. Thomas Caputo/Vihar Shah (Bing), 7-6
3. Carlos Manzanas/Bor Schweiger Muzar (NIU) def. Frenk Kote/Inigo Saez (Bing), 6-1

Singles
1. Ludovico Cestarollo (Bing) def. Bor Schweiger Muzar (NIU), 6-4, 6-3
2. Georg Lundkvist (NIU) def. Tiago Lourenco (Bing), 4-6, 6-2, 6-0
3. Kushaan Nath (Bing) def. Eric Marbach (NIU), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
4. Tom Hjertonsson (NIU) def. Thomas Caputo (Bing), 6-4, 6-4
5. Louis-Philippe Hamel (NIU) def. Valentin Bouchet (Bing), 6-0, 6-1
6. Carlos Manzanas (NIU) def. Inigo Saez (Bing), 4-6, 6-1, 6-0