DEKALB, Ill. – A late Miami run in regulation forced overtime and the RedHawks outlasted the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team, 66-65, in overtime on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 18) at the NIU Convocation Center. Anthony Crump (Inkster, Mich.) recorded his third career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, along with five assists and four steals. 

Zarique Nutter (Newark, N.J.) added 16 points, Darweshi Hunter (Phoenix, Ariz.) scored 14 points and Harvin Ibarguen (Cali, Colombia) chipped in 12 points. 

"Disappointed in the outcome, we didn't finish anywhere what we were capable," said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. "A 20-point lead with nine (minutes) to go, I thought we got out of character, we didn't play our style of play in terms of composure, playing for each other. (Miami) did a good job of getting out in transition, they went zone and we didn't make shots to get them out of the zone and that gave life to them … and we didn't do a good job of executing."

With NIU in front 53-34 and just over nine minutes to play, Miami went on a 9-0 run to trim the Huskie lead to 55-44 with 6:38 left. 

Nutter stopped the RedHawk run with a triple, but the visitors answered with the final 14 points of regulation, including an off-balance triple from Anderson Mirambeaux with less than five seconds remaining to tie the game at 58, forcing overtime.

In the extra period, NIU scored first on a bucket from Ibarguen off a feed from Nutter, but Miami netted the next four to take their first lead of the contest, 62-60. An Ibarguen dunk from Crump evened the contest again, only for the RedHawks to score the next four and take a 66-62 lead with 22 seconds left. 

A triple from Hunter, his third of the contest, cut the Miami lead to 66-65 and the Huskies forced a turnover on the inbounds pass to get the ball back with 14 seconds left, down just one. 

NIU had a pair of looks in the final seconds but neither would fall as Miami escaped with the one-point road victory. 

Mirambeaux led the RedHawks with 18 points, Morgan Safford added 16 points and 10 rebounds while Mekhi Lairy and Ryan Mabrey each chipped in 12 points. 

NIU raced out to a 15-2 lead in the opening five minutes of the contest with Nutter scoring a half-dozen of the 15 to get the Huskies off to a quick start. 

The Huskies led by 10 at the break, 32-22. Crump had 13 points, on 6-of-7 from the floor, to lead all scorers. Lairy had six points to lead Miami. NIU shot 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from the field in the opening 20 minutes while holding Miami to just 36.4 percent (8-of-22) shooting. 

After Miami scored the first two points of the second half, NIU used a 1-0 run to push its advantage to 42-24 with just over 16 minutes left to play. The RedHawks cut the deficit back to a dozen before the Huskies used a 10-2 burst to take a 53-34 lead with 9:22 left. 

NIU will head back on the road for a pair of games next week, starting with a trip to Athens, Ohio to meet the Ohio Bobcats on Tuesday, Feb. 21. The Huskies will then visit Central Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 25.