ATHENS, Ohio – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team trailed by as much as 14 in the first half before rallying for a 72-66 on Saturday afternoon at Ohio. Senior Lacey James (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rider) led the way with a career-high 20 points and a career-best 14 rebounds, recording his fourth career double-double.

Junior Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) added 16 points with five assists and no turnovers, senior Dante Thorpe (Washington, D.C./Triton College) had 12 points and four assists while senior Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) added 11 points and six rebounds. 

"We had to take it one play at a time, there is no 14-point play," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "Our defense had to get some stops and then we had to get consecutive baskets. We made a surge at the end of the first half, but Ohio made some threes to extend the lead and we needed to regroup at halftime, which we did.

"We started pounding the ball inside, Lacey James took over the game, and we made some perimeter shots, we made nine threes in the game. As (Ohio's) lead was dwindling, our confidence was growing and we stole the momentum in the second half. 

After the Bobcats took their largest lead of the contest, 37-23, early in the second half, NIU responded with a 15-0 run to take its first lead of the afternoon with 12:42 left. 

James ignited the run with a basket, Thorpe then added a bucket, Bradley scored off an offensive rebound and James converted off a feed from German to cut the Ohio lead to a half-dozen. 

Thorpe then scored the next five to bring the Huskies within one and Bradley made a pair from the charity stripe as NIU led for the first time, 38-37. 

Ohio (8-5, 0-1 MAC) and NIU then traded baskets, with junior Noah McCarty (Rock Falls, Ill./Sterling Newman) converting on back-to-back trips for the Huskies. The Bobcats then made three-straight from the line to reclaim a two-point lead, but NIU answered with a layup from James and two free throws by Bradley as the Huskies moved back in front, 46-44, with 8:20 left. 

NIU (8-6, 1-0 MAC) built a lead as large as four and the Huskies had a four-point advantage, 58-54, on a layup by James with a minute to play. An old-fashioned three-point play by Ohio brought the Bobcats within one, but Thorpe scored on a drive with 17 seconds left to give NIU a three-point advantage. 

Ben Vander Plas then made a triple, and was fouled, with eight seconds remaining to even the score. Vander Plas was unable to make the free throw as the game remained tied as the Huskies were unable to convert at the rim as the game went to overtime. 

Ohio went just 11-of-25 (44 percent) from the free-throw line while NIU was 13-of-17 (76.5 percent) from the stripe. 

The two teams traded baskets to start the overtime before freshman Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich/Novi), playing in his first collegiate game, knocked down a corner triple to give the Huskies a 65-62 lead. 

Hankerson went 3-of-4 from beyond the arc to finish with nine points. 

A pair of baskets from Teyvion Kirk helped pull Ohio back even, 66-66, with just over 90 seconds to play but on the next possession, James was fouled with 1:11 left and calmly made a pair of free throws to put the Huskies back in front. 

On the next possession, Ohio missed three free throws and NIU sealed the win as James and Bradley each made a pair at the line, handing the Bobcats their first home loss of the season. 

Kirk finished with a game-high 22 points to pace Ohio, Antonio Cowart Jr., added 14 points for the Bobcats. 

"It is rewarding because most of this group has been together," Montgomery said of the victory. "The upperclassmen stepped up, they started trusting each other, and they are all on the same page offensively and defensively. They didn't put their heads down when we went to overtime. Everybody contributed and we were locking them down on defense, which was good to see."

The Huskies will finish their two-game road trip to open conference play on Tuesday night, January 8, when they visit Miami. Game time against the RedHawks is slated for 6 p.m. CT and will be available on ESPN+.