BUFFALO, N.Y. – Gianni Cobb (Chicago, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) netted a career-high 23 points and Dylan Ducommun (Geneva, Switzerland) recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 assists as the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team topped Buffalo, 72-70, on Tuesday night (Feb. 17) at Alumni Arena. 

NIU (9-16, 4-9 MAC) shot 60.9 percent (14-of-23) from the field in the second half, including 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from three-point range, as the Huskies erased a six-point halftime deficit. Makhai Valentine (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) and Taj Walters (Bronx, N.Y./Moravian Prep) each added 11 points while Gustav Winther (Roskilde, Denmark) added 10 points. 

"It was a complete game in terms of scoring distribution," said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. "Dylan, Taj, Makhai and Gianni really shot the ball well. We only had four live ball turnovers, which was awesome, and we had 19 assists. We needed to respond after the dreadful performance at Central Michigan and we did."

NIU opened the second half on an 8-0 run as Hassan 'Tre' Washington (Providence, R.I./Prise Academy) opened the scoring in the paint before Cobb and Ducommun each knocked in a triple, giving the Huskies a 37-35 lead and forcing an early Buffalo timeout. 

The Huskie lead grew to five, 45-40, on a trifecta from Valentine 14:13 to play. NIU's lead was a half-dozen before four-straight points for Buffalo trimmed the lead to just a pair, 47-45, with just under 13 minutes left. 

A pair of free throws from Valentine and a bucket from Cobb gave NIU an eight-point lead, 56-48, just past the midway point of the half.

After Buffalo trimmed the lead to four, Walters knocked in a triple and Winther scored off an offensive rebound, giving the visitors a 63-54 lead with a little under seven minutes remaining. 

Winther finished the contest 5-of-5 from the floor while Walters grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. 

Buffalo (15-11, 5-8 MAC) scored the next five to cut the Huskie advantage to 63-59 with just over four minutes left. 

Triples from Valentine and Ducommun, sandwiched around a Buffalo basket, helped the NIU lead grow to 71-63 with 2:27 to play. NIU made 13 three-point field goals in the contest. 

The Bulls scored the next seven, cutting the NIU advantage to just one with a little over a minute remaining. 

A pair of empty trips for the Huskies and an empty trip for Buffalo meant the Bulls had the ball with less than 20 seconds to play, trailing by one. A jumper in the paint rimmed out and Cobb grabbed the rebound before being fouled with 2.1 seconds left. 

The sophomore guard split a pair of free throws, giving Buffalo one more chance. Out of a timeout, the Bulls threw the ball the length of the floor for a shot from 17 feet that fell short as the Huskies came away with the road victory. 

Angelo Brizzi finished with a game-high 25 points for Buffalo; Ryan Sabol added 24 points for the Bulls. 

Cobb netted five points in the opening four minutes of the contest as the Huskies and Bulls went back-and-forth in the early going. 

Buffalo used a 7-2 burst to take a 16-12 lead with just over 12 minutes to play in the opening half. 

A triple from Valentine evened the game at 18 just past the midway point of the half, but Buffalo responded with the next seven as the Bulls took a 25-18 lead with 7:57 to go before the intermission. 

A pair of free throws from Cobb and a triple from Ducommun cut the Buffalo lead to just a pair, 25-23, with 5:55 to play in the half. NIU was within one, 27-26, after a second triple from Ducommun. 

The Bulls answered with the next eight to increase their lead to 35-26, forcing a Huskie timeout with three minutes left in the half. Out of the timeout, Cobb made a triple to cut the Buffalo lead to 35-29 heading into the intermission. 

The Huskies will return home on Saturday, Feb. 20, when they host Ohio at 2 p.m. at the NIU Convocation Center. Tickets are available now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets.