MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- In a contest that featured 76 total free throw attempts, the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team held off a second half Central Michigan run to top the Chippewas, 84-80, and clinch a spot in the Mid-American Conference Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio, on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 25) at McGuirk Arena. 

Zarique Nutter (Newark, N.J.) and Kaleb Thornton (Bolingbrook, Ill.) each scored 21 points to lead the Huskies. Darweshi Hunter (Phoenix, Ariz.) added 14 points while Anthony Crump (Inkster, Mich.) and Harvin Ibarguen (Cali, Colombia) both chipped in 11 points. 

NIU built a 19-point lead late in the first half and Central Michigan trimmed it to as little as four twice, but the Huskies were able to hold off the Chippewas. NIU shot 52 percent (26-of-50) from the field, including 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from three-point range while holding CMU to just 36.7 percent (22-of-60) shooting and 27.3 percent (6-of-22) from three. 

"Our objective was to get to Cleveland, to give ourselves an opportunity to cut down nets, but you have to get to Cleveland first before you can do that," said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. "If you look at the ball distribution and you look at the turnovers, when we didn't turn it over, we got quality shots. We shot 69 percent in the first half and 60 from three, so if you limit turnovers and run your offense crisply, you can get easy shots."

Trailing by a pair six minutes into the contest, Armandas Plintauskas (Kedainiai, Lithuania) and Thornton knocked in back-to-back triples, igniting an 14-2 Huskie run. Thornton made another three and then finished at the rim before Hunter canned a trifecta, giving NIU a 22-12 lead with just under 11 minutes to play in the opening half. 

After Central Michigan trimmed the Huskie lead back to five, NIU went on a 12-0 run. Ibarguen opened the burst with a dunk off a feed from Thornton. The Bolingbrook, Ill., native then added a pair of free throws and Hunter made a short jumper to give NIU a 31-20 lead with 4:22 left before the intermission, forcing a Chippewa timeout. 

Following the timeout, Thornton added a triple and Nutter converted an old-fashioned three-point play, giving NIU a 37-20 lead.  

The Huskies closed the half with a 6-2 spurt courtesy of a triple from Hunter, a free throw by Plintauskas and a dunk from Oluwasegun Durosinmi (Lagos, Nigeria) off a feed from Thornton as NIU took a 47-29 lead into the break. 

Thornton led all scorers with 14 points in the opening half, Nutter added nine as the Huskies shot 69.6 percent (16-of-23) in the opening 20 minutes, including 60 percent (6-of-10) from three-point range. Markus Harding had eight in the first half to pace Central Michigan. 

The Chippewas trimmed the NIU advantage to 13 early in the second half before a dunk from Ibarguen and a triple by Hunter pushed the Huskie lead back to 18, 56-38, four minutes into the second stanza. 

Central Michigan answered with an 11-0 run, cutting the NIU to 56-49 with 11:32 left to play. 

After the Huskies pushed the lead to 59-49, the Chippewas scored the next seven of the next eight to pull within four, 60-56, just past the midway point of the second half. 

In front by a half-dozen, NIU used a 6-0 burst to push its advantage to 68-56 with 6:40 left. Ibarguen converted an old-fashioned three-point play, Nutter made a basket and added a free throw while Hunter also scored from the line as the Huskie advantage reached a dozen. 

A Central Michigan layup with five minutes left helped claw the Chippewas within eight, 70-62. It would be the last field goal by the hosts until the final 10 seconds of the contest as Central Michigan would go to the free-throw line 14 times over the final five minutes, making 13 of those attempts. 

Those trips to the line helped cut the NIU lead to 76-71 with 2:23 to play, but Crump made two free throws and Nutter scored at the rim as the Huskie advantage grew to nine. NIU's lead was seven before a three-pointer with less than a second left cut the final margin to four. 

Reggie Bass scored a game-high 40 points for Central Michigan, including 21-of-24 from the free-throw line. Brian Taylor added 14 and Harding finished with 12 points for the hosts. CMU went 30-of-37 (81.1 percent) from the foul line in the contest while NIU finished 25-of-39 (64.1 percent).

The Huskies will return home for the final two games of the regular season as NIU hosts Buffalo on Tuesday, Feb. 28 and Eastern Michigan on Friday, March 3. Tickets for NIU's two remaining home games are available now by logging on to NIUHuskies.com/tickets or by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at (815) 753-PACK (7225).