ROCHESTER, Mich. -- Junior Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) scored 30 points and senior Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) added 21 as the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team downed Oral Roberts, 87-66, on Friday afternoon at the Athletics Center O'Rena in the opening game of the Men Against Breast Cancer Oakland Hoops Challenge. 

NIU (3-1) led by 10 at the break and never looked back, shooting 54.8 percent (17-of-31) in the second half, including 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from three, as the Huskies cruised to a 21-point victory. 

Seniors Dante Thorpe (Washington, D.C./Triton College) and Jaylen Key (Milwaukee, Wis./Homestead) each added nine points for the Huskies who finished with 23 assists on 33 field goals. NIU forced 19 turnovers in the contest and outscored the Golden Eagles off turnovers, 32-10. 

"We had a good half of basketball and we finished it out in the second half," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "We were looking to get that first Division I win and we were a little anxious and excited, playing a little too fast at first. Then we settled down and played good basketball, we got a lot of good basketball out of all the guys this afternoon."

NIU jumped out to a great start as the Huskies led 10-1 in the opening three minutes of the contest. A Bradley basket got the Huskies started and, after Thorpe added a pair, Bradley converted an old-fashioned three-point play and a conventional triple to help give the Huskies a nine-point advantage. 

Bradley added eight rebounds and four assists to his 21 points on the afternoon; German and Thorpe also had four assists for the victorious Huskies. 

Oral Roberts (2-5) used an 11-0 run to take its first lead of the day, 14-12, but German responded with back-to-back triples as the Huskies went back in front by four with just over 11 minutes to play in the first half.

The pair of threes from German sparked a 14-0 burst for the Huskies as the junior from Gary, Ind., added four more and junior Noah McCarty (Rock Falls, Ill./Sterling Newman) added a pair of layups as the NIU lead grew to 26-14 with nine minutes to play before the intermission. 

Oral Roberts trimmed the NIU advantage back to as little as three late in the half, but NIU closed with an 8-1 spurt to take a 44-34 lead into the locker room. 

German scored 18 points to lead the way in the opening 20 minutes, Bradley added 16 as the Huskies had 11 assists on 16 field half field goals. 

Oral Roberts cut the NIU lead to single-digits, 48-40, until a triple from sophomore Rod Henry-Hayes (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) just over three minutes into the second half ignited a 22-3 run for the Huskies as they put away the Golden Eagles early in the second half. Key made a pair of moves along the baseline and senior Lacey James (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rider) scored off an offensive rebound as NIU scored nine-straight to lead 57-40. 

James finished with six points and seven rebounds. 

The Golden Eagles hit a triple but the Huskies answered with the next 13 to take its largest lead of the game, 70-43, just past the midway point of the second half. 

Kevin Obanor led Oral Roberts with 16 points and seven rebounds off the bench. DeShang Weaver added 14 points and Kaelen Malone chipped in 12 for the Golden Eagles.

NIU will return to action tomorrow (Nov. 23) at 11 a.m. CT, when the Huskies meet James Madison in their second game at the Men Against Breast Cancer Oakland Hoops Challenge.