BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team trailed by as much as 17 before storming back to pull within one but was unable to pull off the comeback as it fell, 66-57, to Bowling Green on Tuesday night at the Stroh Center. 

The Huskies used a 14-0 run to get within one with just six minutes left and stayed within a possession until the closing moments when the Falcons pulled away for the nine-point victory. 

Sophomore Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) scored a game-high 19 points, 17 of which came after halftime, junior Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) scored 13 points despite being limited to 20 minutes due to foul trouble and sophomore Noah McCarty (Rock Falls, Ill./Sterling Newman) added a career-high 10 points and tied a career-high with six rebounds. 

"It was disappointing, you have to play two halves," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "I thought we played hard, but we have to play a little smarter … We started getting consecutive stops, and when you get consecutive stops you can get out in transition and get something easy. Then we got the ball inside like we wanted to do in the first half. We missed a lot of chippies in the first half, and we made them in the second half." 

Bowling Green (11-5, 2-1 MAC) led 52-37 just past the midway point of the second half when a 7-0 burst from the Huskies cut the gap nearly in half. Bradley opened the burst with a free throw, German added a free throw and a layup before finding Bradley on a drop-off as the Huskies cut the Falcon lead to 52-44 with 7:41 to play. 

Following a Bowling Green timeout, the NIU (8-8, 1-2 MAC) run reached 14-0 as German knocked in a triple and added a pair from the line before junior Dante Thorpe (Washington, D.C./Triton College) closed the run with a bucket to bring NIU within one, 52-51, with just under six minutes left. 

Thorpe finished with six points. 

The Falcons finally stopped the NIU run with a triple to push their lead back to four. The two teams traded free throws before Bradley finished near the rim to bring NIU back within a pair, 57-55, with 3:34 left. 

Bowling Green scored the next four as the lead went back up to a half-dozen before a layup from McCarty brought the Huskies within four with less than two minutes to go. NIU had a chance to get closer after a Falcon turnover but a corner triple wouldn't go for the Huskies and Bowling Green escaped with the victory. 

Demajeo Wiggins led the Falcons with 15 points and 15 rebounds, Justin Turner added 14 points and Dylan Frye chipped in 11. 

Thorpe's second basket of the early going gave the Huskies a 6-3 lead but Bowling Green scored the next 11 to take a 14-6 advantage with 12:37 to play in the opening half. 

After a triple from sophomore Justin Thomas (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) slowed the Bowling Green run, the Falcons answered with the next six as they pushed their lead to 20-9 at the midway point of the first stanza. 

Baskets by McCarty and Bradley brought the Huskies back within seven before Bowling Green used a 13-4 run to take a 16-point lead, its largest of the first half. The Falcons took a 33-19 advantage into the intermission. 

NIU will return home on Saturday, Jan. 13 as the Huskies host Eastern Michigan at 3:30 p.m., at the NIU Convocation Center. Saturday's contest is Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day, all NIU Faculty and Staff can receive two free tickets by showing their OneCard at the Convocation Center Box Office.