DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team and Central Michigan traded leads 17 times and were tied 15 times, but the Chippewas scored the final six points of the contest to claim an 80-72 road win on Tuesday night at the NIU Convocation Center. 

NIU shot 54.3 percent (25-of-46) from the field in the contest, including 57.1 percent (12-of-21) in the second half, but Central Michigan grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and went to the free-throw line 11 times more than the Huskies. 

Sophomore Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) led four Huskies in double figures with 23 points. Junior Lacey James (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rider) had 13 points, junior Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) chipped in 11 points and freshman Gairges Daow (Melbourne, Australia/Victory Rock Academy) added 10 points. 

"It came down to three things, (Central Michigan) offensive rebounding in the second half, (Central Michigan) shooting free throws, getting into the bonus early, and us turning the ball over," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "You have to defend without fouling, you have to take care of the basketball and we just couldn't get separation in the second half. 

"Credit Central (Michigan), they made plays down the stretch and we didn't execute and didn't get stops."

NIU (11-15, 4-9 MAC) scored the first seven points to open the contest, but Central Michigan answered with an 11-4 run as the Chippewas took a 14-11 lead with 13:41 to play in the opening half. 

With Central Michigan up by a pair, German knocked down back-to-back triples, his third and fourth of the early going, to give NIU a 22-18 lead with 11:39 to play before the break. 

The contest was tied at 27 before a pair of free throws from freshman Owen Hamilton (Prescott, Wis./Prescott) gave the lead back to the Huskies. Central Michigan then scored the next four as the Chippewas took a 31-29 lead with 4:50 left before the intermission. 

NIU reclaimed the lead on an old-fashioned three-point play from James and the Huskies pushed their advantage to four but Central Michigan scored the final five points to close the half as the Chippewas took a 40-39 lead into halftime. 

Neither team led by more than three in the second half until CMU took a 54-50 lead on a three-point play by Kevin McKay. Less than a minute later, NIU had pulled back even on a triple by Daow and took the lead when Daow added another basket with 12:12 left. 

Four-straight from Central Michigan (16-10, 5-8 MAC) were followed by six from the Huskies and five more by the Chippewas as CMU took a 64-63 lead with six-and-a-half minutes to play. 

With the score tied at 69, McKay converted another three-point play to put the Chippewas in front with 3:30 to go. The Central Michigan lead was down to two with just under two minutes left but McKay made another basket, followed by a Huskie turnover, and McKay scored again off an offensive rebound as the Chippewas did just enough to claim the road victory. 

McKay finished with a game-high 33 points on 14-of-20 shooting, Shawn Roundtree added 16 points and Cecil Williams added 10 for the Chippewas. 

The Huskies will conclude their current three-game home stretch on Saturday, Feb. 17, when they host Western Michigan at 3:30 p.m., in the second half of a doubleheader with the NIU women's basketball team tipping off at 1 p.m. Tickets are on sale now through the NIU Athletics Ticket Office in the Convocation Center, by calling 815-753-PACK (7225) or online at NIUHuskies.com. Reserved lower bowl seats are just $10 while general admission is available for $8.