BUFFALO, N.Y. – Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich./Novi) scored a game-high 21 points and the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team trailed by just two with eight minutes to play, but Buffalo used an 8-0 run to hold off the Huskies and claim a 70-60 victory on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 26) at Alumni Arena. 

Jeenathan Williams scored 18 points to lead the way for Buffalo while Keshawn Williams (Chicago Heights, Ill./Tulsa) added 10 for the Huskies. 

NIU scored the first five points of the contest as Anthony Crump (Inkster, Mich./Middle Tennessee) knocked in a corner triple and Hankerson finished at the rim. Buffalo answered with the next 10 to lead by five with 12:46 to play in the opening half. 

A basket from Chinedu Kingsley Okanu (Lynwood, Ill./Vincennes University) and a fast break layup off a turnover from Hankerson trimmed the Buffalo lead back to just one, 10-9.

Okanu finished with eight points and six rebounds. 

Buffalo responded with the next 12 as the Bulls led, 22-9, before Kaleb Thornton (Bolingbrook, Ill./Iowa Western CC) ended the run with a layup with just under eight minutes to play in the half. After beginning the game 0-of-12 from the field, the Bulls made 11 of their next 13 shots from the floor. 

After the Bulls extended their lead to 30-11, NIU used an 8-0 run to claw back within 11. Okanu opened and closed the burst, with a pair of free throws by Keshawn Williams and a bucket from Hankerson in between, as Buffalo led 30-19 with 3:06 left in the first half. 

A 6-0 spurt brought NIU within a half-dozen in the final seconds of the opening stanza. A short jumper from Okanu, followed by a pair of free throws by Adong Makuoi (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada/Daytona State College) and a layup by Keshawn Williams trimmed the Buffalo lead to 35-29 before the Bulls made a free throw to close the half and take a seven-point lead into the intermission. 

Hankerson had nine points to pace NIU in the opening 20 minutes while Jeenathan Williams scored nine to lead the way for Buffalo. 

Early in the second half, Zool Kueth (Gallatin, Tenn./Pratt CC) canned a triple from the wing, igniting a 7-0 Huskie run. Hankerson made a pair of free throws and Makuoi scored as NIU cut the Buffalo lead to just three, 41-38, with 13:41 left to play. 

The Buffalo lead was five, 45-40, when Keshawn Williams scored five-straight, including an old-fashioned three-point play, to tie the game at 45 with just over 11 minutes remaining. 

Buffalo answered with the next five before NIU had seven of the next 10, capped by trifecta from Hankerson, to get back within one, 53-52, with 8:38 to go. 

The home team once again had an answer as Buffalo netted the next nine to take a 62-52 lead. Hankerson ended the Bulls run with a triple, but Buffalo responded with a three of its own as Buffalo ended any hopes of a Huskie comeback. 

Josh Mballa had a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds for Buffalo, Ronaldo Segu was the third Bull in double figures with 12 points. 

NIU will return home next week for the final two games of the regular season. The Huskies will host Kent State on Tuesday, March 1, before welcoming Ohio to the NIU Convocation Center on Friday, March 4.