DEKALB, Ill. – Trailing by four with less than a minute to play in overtime, the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team rallied to force overtime and held off Central Michigan in the extra session for an 82-81 victory over Saturday afternoon (Feb. 22) at the NIU Convocation Center. 

Four players scored in double figures for NIU, led by 23 points and nine rebounds from senior Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter). Sophomore Darius Beane (Carbondale, Ill./Southern Illinois) added 15 points, sophomore Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich./Novi) had 12 points and senior Lacey James (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rider) finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. 

"It was another classic game between us and Central (Michigan), both games (this season) were decided by one point," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "It seemed like our 10-point lead vanished before you could blink your eyes but this team showed some character and toughness to come back from four down, to make big plays, to push the game to overtime and then finish it on the defensive end by getting two stops in a row."

NIU (16-11, 9-5 MAC) led by nine with 5:38 to play in regulation before Central Michigan used a 15-2 run to take a four-point lead, 67-63, with 2:40 remaining. 

James knocked in a triple to cut the Central Michigan lead to one but an old-fashioned three-point play by the Chippewas gave CMU a 72-68 lead with 1:28 to go. 

NIU came up empty on its next possession but German forced a turnover and finished a layup to trim the Central Michigan lead to two. After a Central Michigan shot clock violation, German again converted at the rim to tie the game with 20 seconds to play. 

On the final possession of regulation, the Chippewas missed the initial shot and the ball was tapped around on the rim multiple times but none of them fell at the game went to overtime. 

The Huskies scored first in the extra session and led by one, 78-77, after a pair of free throws from German was 1:44 remaining. Central Michigan scored on its next possession to go back in front by one and, with just over a minute left in the overtime, German attacked the basket and split a pair of free throws to tie the game at 79.

NIU got a stop on the next possession and German converted one more from the line with 33 ticks remaining, giving the Huskies an 80-79 lead. 

Following a Central Michigan turnover, Hankerson stepped to the line and drained a pair, giving NIU an 82-79 lead with 11.4 seconds remaining. 

On its final possession, Central Michigan missed a difficult three-point attempt to tie but did get a layup as time expired as NIU escaped with a one-point victory. 

David DiLeo scored a game-high 25 points to lead Central Michigan. Devontae Lane added 14 points, Rob Montgomery scored 11 and Dallas Morgan chipped in 10 points for the Chippewas. 

NIU shot 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from three-point range while holding Central Michigan to just 23.8 percent (5-of-21) shooting from behind the long line. 

In the first half, Central Michigan raced out to a 6-0 lead and led 11-6, but then neither team led by more than four until NIU closed the half with a 7-0 run to take a 32-27 lead into the intermission. Junior Gairges Daow (Melbourne, Australia/Victory Rock Academy) provided a lift with eight points off the bench in the opening stanza, he finished with nine points in nine minutes of action. 

A 6-0 burst early in the second half pushed the Huskie lead to nine as a layup from German and a pair of baskets from Beane gave NIU a 38-29 lead less than three minutes into the second stanza. 

Central Michigan (13-13, 6-7 MAC) trimmed the Huskie lead back to three but a pair of free throws from James and a trifecta by Hankerson pushed the NIU advantage to 43-35 with 14:17 left. 

The NIU lead had grown to nine before six-straight points by Central Michigan brought the Chippewas within three, 51-48, with 8:50 to play. 

Hankerson responded with a triple for the Huskies and the lead ballooned back to nine before Central Michigan's run set up the dramatic final minutes. 

NIU returns to the road on Tuesday night, February 25, when the Huskies visit Eastern Michigan. Game time against the Eagles is set for 6 p.m. and will be available on ESPN+.