MT. PLEASANT, Mich. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team trailed for just 48 seconds on Tuesday night (Jan. 7), but a last second layup gave Central Michigan the lead for just long enough as the Chippewas claimed a 68-67 victory over the Huskies at McGuirk Arena. 

Senior Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) scored a team-high 20 points with four assists while senior Lacey James (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rider) added 14 points and seven rebounds. 

With 14.8 seconds left and NIU in front by a pair, sophomore Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich./Novi) went to the line and drained both ends of a one-and-one to give the Huskies a 67-63 lead. Central Michigan raced down the floor and Devontae Lane converted a bucket, and was fouled. Lane made the free throw to trim the Huskie advantage to one with nine seconds to play. 

After the Huskies missed the front end of a one-and-one, the Chippewas once again raced the length of the floor and Kevin McKay, who scored a game-high 21 points, made a layup with 0.2 seconds left to give Central Michigan an improbable victory. 

David DiLeo added 12 points and Lane chipped in 11 for the Chippewas. 

NIU (8-7, 1-1 MAC) jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the opening four-and-a-half minutes of the first half. German and James both made a pair of baskets to help the Huskies to the early advantage. 

Central Michigan (9-6, 2-0 MAC) trimmed the NIU lead to just one before a layup by sophomore Justin Lee (Lawrenceville, Ga./Lawrenceville) and a wing triple by junior Zaire Mateen (Queens, N.Y./Laramie County Community College) pushed the Huskie advantage back to a half-dozen, 17-11, with 11:53 to play in the opening half

A corner triple from sophomore Darius Beane (Carbondale, Ill./Southern Illinois) gave the Huskies a 20-13 lead but Central Michigan scored 13 of the next 19 to pull even at 26. NIU went right back in front as a drop-off from German resulted in a dunk for James to give the Huskies a two-point lead with just under four minutes to play in the opening half. 

The Chippewas went in front, 33-32, with a little over a minute to play in the half but senior Noah McCarty (Rock Falls, Ill./Sterling Newman) knocked down a pair of free throws and Mateen got a steal and layup to put the Huskies up by three, 36-33, at the intermission. 

James led all scorers with 10 points in the opening half, German and McCarty each had six for the Huskies, who shot 46.9 percent (15-of-32) from the field in the first 20 minutes. McKay led Central Michigan with eight points as the Chippewas shot a nearly identical 46.2 percent (12-of-26). 

With the Huskies in front by four, German drove to the bucket for consecutive layups to double the NIU lead to 49-41 with 13:59 left, forcing a Central Michigan timeout. 

German added another layup and then fed freshman Tyler Cochran (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) to make the run 8-0, giving NIU a 12-point lead with a little over 13 minutes to play. Central Michigan responded with a pair of triples to cut that advantage in half, 53-47. 

The Huskies answered by pounding the ball back inside to James for back-to-back buckets as the NIU lead grew by to double-digits, 57-47, with just under 11 minutes remaining. 

A 7-0 run brought Central Michigan back within four until another driving layup by German stopped the Chippewa run and gave NIU a 62-56 advantage with 4:52 left. 

Central Michigan used a 7-2 burst to pull within a pair, 65-63, with 55 seconds remaining. Following an empty trip for the Huskies, NIU got a stop that forced the Chippewas to foul Hankerson with less than 15 seconds to play, setting up the game's final moments. 

NIU returns home on Saturday afternoon, January 11, as the Huskies host Eastern Michigan at 3 p.m. in the second game of a Huskie basketball doubleheader. Saturday is Pup Club Day and a Black-Out with Huskie fans encouraged to wear black. Tickets for all remaining home games, including flex passes, are available now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets or by calling 815-753-PACK (7225).