DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team will be on the road for the first time this season as it travels to the Men Against Breast Cancer Oakland Hoops Challenge on Thanksgiving weekend in Rochester, Mich. The Huskies will open the tournament on Friday, November 23 against Oral Roberts, followed by matchup with James Madison on Saturday, November 24 while closing against the host Golden Grizzlies of Oakland on Sunday, November 26. 

NIU enters the weekend with a 2-1 overall record after defeating Illinois Tech, 73-66, last time out (Nov. 17). Senior Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) scored a team-high 18 points to lead the Huskies against the Scarlet Hawks, junior Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) added 17 points in his season debut while senior Dante Thorpe (Washington, D.C./Triton College) scored 13 points. 

This weekend's three games will be the first of seven in the State of Michigan for the Huskies as they will also travel to Michigan State in the non-conference (Dec. 29) before its three conference trips to Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan. 

Oral Roberts enters the Oakland Hoops Challenge with a 2-4 overall record after downing Ecclesia, 109-72, on Monday night (Nov. 19). Two players are scoring in double figures for the Golden Eagles, with Emmanuel Nzekwesi averaging a team-best 14.2 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds per game, Kaelen Malone is chipping in 10.3 points per contest. Paul Mills is in his second year as head coach at Oral Roberts following 14 seasons as an assistant at Baylor.

The Huskies and Golden Eagles have met just once previously, a 95-86 NIU victory on February 3, 1973 when the Huskies topped 19th-ranked Oral Roberts at Chicago Stadium. 

On Saturday, NIU will meet James Madison who heads to Michigan with a 4-1 overall record after falling on Tuesday night (Nov. 20) to The Citadel in overtime, 91-82. Darius Banks leads four players scoring in double figures for the Dukes at 17.8 points per game. Stuckey Mosley adds 14.0 points, Matt Lewis chips in 12.6 points and Dwight Wilson is averaging 10.0 points, along with a team-high 9.4 rebounds, per contest.

NIU and James Madison have met just once previously, also in an in-season tournament, as the Dukes earned a 60-55 victory at the NIU Invitational in DeKalb on November 15, 2013. 

Tournament host Oakland comes into the weekend with a 1-3 overall record; the Golden Grizzlies have already played a pair of Mid-American Conference opponents, falling in their season opener to Toledo, 87-86, while also dropping an overtime decision to Western Michigan, 85-77. Xavier Hill-Mais leads Oakland in scoring at 26.5 points per game for head coach Greg Kampe, who is in his 35th season as head coach of the Golden Grizzlies and had guided Oakland to three NCAA Tournaments (2005, '10, '11). 

NIU associate head coach Jon Borovich was an assistant for Kampe for two seasons from 2005-07. NIU leads the all-time series with Oakland, 2-0, but the two schools have not met since 1977.

Following this weekend's tournament, the Huskies will be back on the road on Wednesday, November 28, when they travel to Green Bay to meet the Phoenix.