DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team held Longwood to just 28.1 percent (16-of-57) shooting as the Huskies defeated the Lancers, 65-48, on Monday night (Nov. 18) at the NIU Convocation Center. Sophomore Darius Beane (Carbondale, Ill./Southern Illinois) scored a team-high 14 points while seniors Lacey James (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rider) and Noah McCarty (Rock Falls, Ill./Sterling Newman) each posted double-doubles. 

James finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds while McCarty had 10 points and 10 rebounds. It was the first time NIU had two players record double-doubles in the same game since November 9, 2018 against Northern Kentucky (Levi Bradley and Lacey James). Senior Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) finished with 12 points. 

"You have to credit our bench," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "It was a close game, we had five fresh players in (midway through the first half) and they gave us an unbelievable spurt to break the game open. If you have four or five guys in double figures and are stingy on defense and hold a team under 30 percent shooting, from twos and threes, it gives you a great chance to win.

"We outrebounded them by 17. I'm very proud of our guys because this is a one-day turnaround, we didn't have much time to practice but we had to figure out an opponent that plays 10 players and I though our guys did an incredible job."

The Huskie bench outscored its counterparts from Longwood, 29-13. 

NIU (3-2) and Longwood went back-and-forth in the early going as junior Nathan Scott (Naperville, Ill./Olney Central College) and freshman Tyler Cochran (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) each knocked down triples to get the Huskies going early. 

With Longwood in front by one, NIU used a 13-0 run to take a 22-10 lead just before the midway point of the opening half. Beane opened the run with a layup off a steal, junior Zaire Mateen (Queens, N.Y./Laramie County Community College) added another layup off a Lancer turnover before Beane converted a pair at the line. A triple from German, a bucket from Scott and a layup by German closed the Huskie run as NIU went in front by a dozen.

German dished out a game-high four assists and recorded a team-best three steals to go along with his dozen points. 

Longwood (4-2) scored the next five to cut the Huskie lead back to seven until another bucket from Beane and a pair of free throws by sophomore Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich./Novi)

Hankerson finished with eight points pushed the NIU advantage to 26-15 with six minutes left in the half. 

Both teams lived at the free-throw line over the final six minutes of the half, each going 6-of-8 from the charity stripe as the Huskies took a 10-point lead, 34-24, in the intermission. 

NIU held Longwood to just 25.9 percent (7-of-27) shooting in the opening half, Jordan Cintron led all scorers with 13 points on 4-of-4 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the line. German had 10 points to pace the Huskies. 

James scored the first five for the Huskies out of the intermission. A Longwood triple brought the Lancers back within a 11 but NIU answered right back as Beane fed Hankerson for a trifecta from the corner but give the Huskies a 44-30 lead with 15:24 left. 

The triple from Hankerson sparked an 8-0 Huskie run as McCarty scored the next five to put the Huskies up 49-30 with 13:24 to play. 

Longwood came right back with the next eight to trim the NIU lead back to 11 just before the midway point of the second half before a basket by James stopped the Lancer burst. 

The Huskies then clamped down further on the defensive end, giving up just six points in nine minutes as the Huskie lead grew to 18 with 90 seconds to play, propelling NIU to its third win in four nights. 

Cintron finished with a game-high 15 points, along with eight rebounds, to lead Longwood. 

Longwood's 48 points represent the first time NIU has held a Division I opponent to under 50 points since defeating South Florida, 59-48, on December 20, 2016. 

NIU will head on the road on Wednesday, November 20, as the Huskies travel to Macomb to meet Western Illinois to begin a stretch of six-of-seven away from home. Game time against the Leathernecks is slated for 7:30 p.m.