KALAMAZOO, Mich. – A three-pointer by Jared Printy lifted Western Michigan past the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team, 72-69, on Saturday evening (Feb. 29) at University Arena. NIU rallied from down 18 with less than nine minutes to play before falling to the late triple.

Senior Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) scored a game-high 23 points, senior Lacey James (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rider) and sophomore Darius Beane (Carbondale, Ill./Southern Illinois) each scored 11 points.

"This team has a lot of heart," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "When you come back from down 18, we had a spirited huddle and we decided to come out of that huddle and get stops, it was fun to coach that last eight minutes. I just wish we could have gotten one more stop and taken it to overtime."

Western Michigan shot 54.2 percent (26-of-48) from the field, including 63.2 percent (12-of-19) from three-point range. 

With Western Michigan in front, 61-43, NIU went on a 16-1 run to climb within three with 3:22 remaining. Freshman Tyler Cochran (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) opened the run with a pair of free throws, Beane knocked in a triple from the wing and German scored the next four as NIU trimmed the Bronco lead to 61-52. 

Cochran finished with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field. 

Following a free throw by Western Michigan, James made a pair at the line, German canned a trifecta and Beane hit a pair from the charity stripe as NIU cut the Western Michigan lead to 62-59.

A basket by the Broncos pushed the lead to five, but James buried a triple and German finished at the rim as NIU tied the game at 64 with 2:19 remaining. Western Michigan answered with a triple and German came back with an old-fashioned three-point play to tie the game 67-67. 

Western Michigan (12-17, 5-11 MAC) went ahead by two again, but German finished a layup off the high glass with 33 seconds left, pulling the Huskies even again. 

Out of a timeout, Western Michigan ran the shot clock down before finding Printy in the corner for the triple with five seconds left. On the final possession, a half-court shot could only draw front rim for the Huskies as Western Michigan escaped with the victory. 

Brandon Johnson and Michael Flowers each scored 20 points to lead the Broncos. 

NIU (17-12, 10-6 MAC) led by one in the early going after a bucket from James before Western Michigan used a 12-2 burst to take a 16-7 lead with 13:30 to play in the opening half. 

The Western Michigan lead grew to a dozen until junior Zaire Mateen (Queens, N.Y./Laramie County CC) scored seven-straight points to trim the Broncos lead to 27-22 with two-and-a-half minutes left in the first stanza. 

After the Broncos scored the next four to push their lead back to 10, Beane beat the buzzer to end the half with a floater, trimming the Western Michigan lead to 32-24 at the intermission. 

NIU will return home on Tuesday night, March 3, to begin the final week of the regular season when the Huskies host Toledo. Tipoff against the Rockets is set for 7 p.m. CT.