EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Senior Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) converted a four-point play with 10 seconds remaining as the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team rallied to beat SIU Edwardsville, 68-64, on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 23) at First Community Arena. 

Sophomore Darius Beane (Carbondale, Ill./Southern Illinois) scored 13 points and senior Lacey James (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rider) had 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds as the Huskies have won five-straight games for the first time since the 2015-16 season. 

"It's a great win, its keeps the momentum going and we talked about it before the game, just find a way," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "We just couldn't shake them, you have to give them credit, they junked it up, they played some box-and-one, sometimes it was triangle-and-two. Even on the (four-point play), they had two guys on (Eugene German), but he made a play."

With just over two minutes left, Beane tipped in a missed layup as the Huskies went in front by three, 61-58. SIU Edwardsville scored the next five as the Cougars took a two-point lead, 63-61, on a layup by Tyresse Williford with 24 seconds left. 

On the next possession, German pulled up for three and drained the shot while being fouled, putting the Huskies up by one. The senior from Gary, Ind., made the free throw to give NIU a two-point lead. 

After SIU Edwardsville split a pair of free throws, sophomore Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich./Novi) converted twice from the line putting NIU up by three with four seconds left. A Cougar turnover gave the ball back to the Huskies and German split a pair of free throws to give NIU the four-point victory. 

Williford scored a team-high 18 points for the Cougars, Zeke Moore added 15 points and Mike Adewunmi chipped in 14 for SIU Edwardsville. 

SIU Edwardsville scored the first five as the Cougars jumped out to the early lead. A triple from Beane, off a feed from senior Noah McCarty (Rock Falls, Ill./Sterling Newman), got the Huskie offense started and, trailing by four, 13-9, NIU went on a 13-0 run to take its first lead of the contest. 

Junior Nathan Scott (Naperville, Ill./Olney Central College) opened the burst with a triple, German added a deep three, McCarty scored off a drop-off from German, Hankerson hit a pair at the line and junior Zaire Mateen (Queens, N.Y./Laramie Country Community College) connected from long range as the Huskies took a 22-13 lead with just over eight minutes to play in the opening half. 

NIU (5-2) held SIU Edwardsville scoreless for over five minutes during the run. 

The Cougars scored the next five to cut the Huskie advantage to four, 22-18, but James scored the next six for NIU as a 6-2 burst pushed the lead to 28-20 with 3:13 left before the intermission. 

SIU Edwardsville (2-4) used a 9-3 run to close the game to cut the NIU lead to just a pair, 34-32, at the break. The Cougars shot 50 percent (13-of-26) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes but were just 2-of-7 (28.6 percent) from three-point range while the Huskies were 6-of-13 (46.2 percent) from beyond the arc. 

The Cougars scored six of the first eight out of the intermission to take a 38-36 lead less than four minutes into the second half. 

SIU Edwardsville's lead grew to as much as four but a wing triple from freshman Tyler Cochran (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook), off a find from McCarty, tied the contest at 51 with just under nine minutes left and NIU went back in front when German made a pair of free throws with 8:04 remaining. 

NIU trailed by a pair when German finished a pair at the rim, kissing the second off the high glass, to put the Huskies back in front, 57-55, with just over four minutes to play, setting up the game's final moments. 

The Huskies will return home on Monday night, November 25, when they host Oakland at the NIU Convocation Center. Tipoff against the Golden Grizzlies is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets for all remaining home games, including flex passes, are available now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets or by calling 815-753-PACK (7225). Fans can purchase a $5 ticket for Monday night's game online by using the promo code Fansgiving.