DEKALB, Ill. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team had the opportunity to tie their game against Northern Illinois with seven seconds remaining, but the Broncos couldn't find the equalizer as they fell to the Huskies 65-63 at the NIU Convocation Center on Tuesday. With the loss, the Broncos fall to 18-12 on the season, 9-8 in Mid-American Conference play. They will play their regular season finale on Friday when they host the Central Michigan Chippewas at University Arena for a 7 p.m. tilt.
David Brown and Thomas Wilder each tied for the team-high with 14 points, with Wilder going 4-of-5 from the field and Brown going 5-of-11. Connar Tava finished with 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds, and Kellen McCormick came off the bench to contribute eight points and two rebounds.
The Broncos led by a score of 30-24 but were outscored 41-33 in the second half by the Huskies, who shot 54.5 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes while limiting the Broncos to 47.6 percent. The Broncos outrebounded the Huskies 33-28 for an eight-rebound swing on NIU's season rebounding margin average.
The two teams warmed up as the first half went on, with the Broncos taking an 11-9 lead after Austin Richie kicked out a pass to an open Taylor Perry, who knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner at the 15:56 mark. Tava added a pair of free throws to make it 14-9, and Thomas Wilder made it 16-11 with a runner from the left wing with 12:36 remaining in the half. Brown made a three with one second left on the shot clock to polish off the 11-2 run and make it 19-11.
The Huskies cut it to just three points when Aaron Armstead drove the baseline and laid it in to make it 21-18, and Anthony Johnson cut it to one point with 5:20 remaining on a coast-to-coast rush and lay-up. NIU cut the deficit to just one point again, making it 23-22, but AJ Avery made a pair of free throws to bump the lead back to three points with 2:34 left to go in the half. Wilder added on with a lay-up in the lane to make it 27-22, and Kellen McCormick added a trey from the left wing with 49 seconds left to push the advantage to 30-24. The score remained that way for the remainder of the period, as WMU entered the halftime break owning a six-point advantage over the Huskies.
The two teams traded baskets to start the second half, with McCormick draining a three-pointer to make it 37-31 early in the period, and the sophomore forward put back an offensive rebound at the 15:21 mark to put the Broncos on top by a 39-33 score. The Huskies cut it to 39-37 after Marin Maric made one of two free throws with little more than 14 minutes remaining, but Wilder stopped the bleeding with an old-fashioned three-point play off a steal by McCormick to make it 43-37. Northern Illinois took a 46-45 lead thanks to a pair of free throws by Travon Baker and the Huskies' reached 51-47 with 8:24 to play on a three-pointer by Aaron Armstead.
Wilder helped the Broncos tie it at 53 with 6:55 to play, swiping the ball on defense and advancing it to Tava for an easy fast break lay-up with 6:38 to go. Armstead put the Huskies back ahead by one with a free throw make, but Perry responded with a trey from the left corner to push the Broncos up by a 56-54 score. NIU battled back and took a 59-56 lead on a fast break score by Darrell Bowie. The Broncos regained the lead after Brown swished a pair of free throws to make it 60-59, but Threloff banked in a runner from the baseline to put the Huskies back on top and Aaron Armstead knocked down a three-pointer to make it a two-possession game. Brown cut it to two points with a spinning jumper in the paint, but the Broncos were unable to bury the equalizer in the waning seconds as NIU escaped with the 65-63 win.
