CLEVELAND – In a high-level college basketball game befitting of the month of March, the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team outlasted Toledo, 80-76, on Thursday night (March 14) at Quicken Loans Arena to advance to the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament. 

Junior Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) scored a game-high 27 points, senior Dante Thorpe (Washington, D.C./Triton College) added 18 and senior Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) scored 13 points, all of which came in the second half. 

NIU (17-16) shot 56.4 percent (31-of-55) in the contest, including 58.8 percent (10-of-17) from three-point range, as the Huskies won for just the second time in Quicken Loans Arena, and the first time since 2003. 

Thorpe scored the first seven for the Huskies as NIU led 7-6 in the early going. After Toledo rattled off the next eight, German quickly answered with the next seven to even the contest, 14-14, with 13:28 to play in the opening half. 

With Toledo in front by four, NIU went on a 13-0 run, including four trifectas, to take a 29-20 lead with just over nine minutes to play in the first half. Freshman Austin Richie (Glenwood, Ill./Don Bosco Institute) knocked down a pair of triples to start the burst, German added two more, sandwiched around a free throw by Thorpe, as the Huskies took a nine-point lead. 

Toledo (25-7) trimmed the Huskie advantage to 33-29, until back-to-back triples from freshman Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich./Novi) and German gave NIU a double-digit lead, 39-29. The Rockets answered right back with the next eight to cut the Huskie lead to 39-37 with 3:27 left before the break. 

The two teams traded baskets to close the opening 20 minutes as NIU took a 41-39 lead into the intermission. German led all scorers with 18 points in the opening half, Thorpe added 10 for NIU. The Huskies shot 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the field in the first half, including 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from three. Toledo shot 43.3 percent (13-of-20) in the first 20 minutes, and 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from three-point range. 

German and Bradley made the first two baskets of the second half at the rim as the Huskie lead ballooned to a half-dozen in the opening 90 seconds after the intermission. 

A 10-2 run by Toledo gave the Rockets their first lead of the second half, 49-47, but senior Jaylen Key (Milwaukee, Wis./Homestead) converted at the rim and Richie knocked in his third triple of the night to give the lead back to the Huskies, 52-49, with 12:51 to play. 

Richie finished with a career-best nine points on a perfect 3-of-3 from three-point range. 

With the contest tied at 56, NIU went on an 8-3 burst to lead 64-59 with a little over seven minutes to play, forcing a Rocket timeout. Bradley scored six of the eight during the run for the Huskies. 

After a free throw from Toledo, Bradley made another bucket and Thorpe made a difficult layup as the NIU lead went to 68-60 with 5:33 remaining. Toledo answered right back with the next eight to tie the game with just under three minutes to go. 

On the next possession, German knocked in a triple, his fifth of the night, to put the Huskies right back in front by three. 

After a basket by Toledo, NIU scored the next five on a layup by German, a pair of free throws from senior Lacey James (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rider) and a free throw by Bradley with 34 seconds left. 

Toledo wouldn't go away however, scoring the next five to trim the Huskie lead to 76-75. Bradley then converted a pair of free throws with nine ticks left on the clock and, after Toledo split a pair from the line, Thorpe stepped up and made a pair with four seconds to play to put the game out of reach. 

Five players scored in double figures for Toledo, led by 17 points from Marreon Jackson. Luke Knapke added 16, Nate Navigato scored 15, Jaelan Sanford had 13 and Chris Darrington scored 12 for the Rockets, who made 14 triples in the contest. 

With the win, NIU advances to the MAC Tournament Semifinals for the first time since 2003 where they will face Bowling Green on Friday night, March 15, at 8 p.m. CT at Quicken Loans Arena. Friday's contest will be televised live on Fox College Sports.