DEKALB, ILL. – On Saturday afternoon inside the Convocation Center, Western Michigan men's basketball was unable to slow down Northern Illinois who shot 53.1 percent from the field as the Broncos fell to the Huskies, 75-67.

With the loss, WMU drops to 15-12 overall and 7-7 in Mid-American Conference play. The Broncos return home on Tuesday, Feb. 20 for a showdown with in-state rival Central Michigan. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.

The Broncos trailed by just three with 30 seconds left but was unable to get any closer as NIU scored the final seven points. The Brown & Gold shot 42.1 percent from the field and 30 percent from three while NIU shot a staggering 53.1 percent from the floor including 61.5 percent in the second half.

Senior Thomas Wilder led the Bronco attack with 20 points to go along with five assists and three rebounds. Wilder shot 5-of-17 from the floor and went a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line.

Along with Wilder, junior Bryce Moore was the only Bronco to score in double figures with 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field. Moore also poured in three of the team's six three-pointers on the night. Fellow junior Josh Davis led the team with seven rebounds to go along with eight points.

WMU had 14 turnovers on the night compared to NIU's 11 and scored 13 points off of Huskie turnovers. The Broncos dominated the glass, outrebounding the Huskies, 31-26 including 10-5 on the offensive glass.

NIU's Eugene German led all scorers with a career-high 31 points on 11-of-22 shooting from the field. German came into the contest as the MAC's leading scorer with 20.1 points per game.

In the first half it was all Broncos as WMU led 31-27 at the break after shooting 45.5 percent from the floor. It was tied at 13-13 midway through the first before NIU gained the lead making four of the next five field goals.

NIU held the lead up until two minutes left in the half as Wilder took over for the Broncos scoring five straight points. WMU ended the first half on a 7-2 run and held NIU scoreless the final two minutes.

Both teams traded baskets to begin the second half as WMU and NIU were deadlocked at 31-31 early in the second half.  Junior Seth Dugan rattled off four straight points as
WMU embarked on 7-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at five with 13 minutes left to play.

The Huskies countered later in the half with a 10-0 run that ultimately ended up being a 12-4 run to lead by 11 with four minutes to go.  Trailing by double digits, WMU fought its way back with a 7-3 run to cut the NIU lead to three with 30 seconds remaining.

After inbounding the ball, NIU got past the Western Michigan full court press en route to a slam dunk on the other end to extend their lead to five. Down the stretch NIU scored the final seven points to earn the home victory.

With four games left in the regular season, WMU is currently the No.6 seed if the MAC Tournament were to start today.