DEKALB, Ill.  – On a night when Western Michigan men's basketball outshot and outrebounded Northern Illinois the Broncos were unable to make a late second half surge, falling to the Huskies 70-65 on Tuesday night inside the NIU Convocation Center.

The Broncos shot 43.4 percent from the field compared to NIU's, 41.9 percent and WMU outrebounded the Huskies, 38-34. However, NIU edged WMU from long distance knocking down nine threes' to WMU's three.

WMU had a pair score in double figures with senior Seth Dugan leading the way with his 13^th double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Dugan's 13 double-doubles matches Tom Cutter's mark set during the 1975-76 season for third most in a single-season in school history.

It's the third straight game the Otsego, Mich., native has recorded double digit rebounds along with his second straight double-double. Dugan has registered a double-double in five of the last seven contests. Against NIU, the senior center shot a staggering 80 percent from the field and was 3-of-4 from the free-throw line.

Playing near his hometown, sophomore Kawanise Wilkins had 14 points and six rebounds on 4-of-6 shooting from the field. The Chicago, Ill., native was 6-of-8 from the free-throw line and scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half.

Nearing his first career double-double was freshman Patrick Emilien with nine points along with matching his career-high with nine rebounds. Emilien also matched his career-high with three assists and was 3-of-7 from the field.

Senior Josh Davis and sophomore Michael Flowers each registered eight points on the night. Davis collected five rebounds while Flowers had four and a team-high three assists. Along with Wilkins off the bench freshman DJ Houston went 1-of-3 from the field and knocked down his second career three-pointer in 10 minutes played.

WMU held a 17-9 advantage in second chance points and outscored NIU, 30-26 in the paint. The Huskies forced WMU to commit 15 turnovers, scoring 20 points off of turnovers. The Bronco defense was stellar against NIU's Eugene German, holding the league's second leading scorer to just seven points on 3-of-12 shooting.

With three regular season games remaining the Broncos have an overall record of 8-20, 2-13 in Mid-American Conference play. WMU hosts Ball State on Saturday, March 2 at 4:30 p.m. as the second part of a doubleheader at University Arena. The men's basketball team will be honoring its 2003-04 MAC championship team as part of the 2019 Pregame Stampede Tailgate.

NIU gained an early 4-0 lead a minute into the game prior to the Broncos rallying back to tie the score at 4-4 after two made free-throws from Flowers. It was an offensive struggle for both teams during the first eight minutes of play prior to the Brown & Gold embarking on a 5-0 run to tie the game at 13-13 with 11:10 left.

The Huskies countered the Bronco run by making their next four field goals to regain the lead at 24-15 with 8:43 to play.  WMU once again tied the game at the 6:20 mark after a 9-0 run with four points coming from Dugan. After making five of its six field goals, WMU tied the game at 24-24.

Over the final three minutes of the first half the Bronco offense stalled, making just one of their final seven field goals to trail 38-29 at halftime. WMU was held scoreless the final 2:46 of play as NIU went on a 7-0 run.

Northern Illinois jumped out to a double digit lead early in the second half and held a 43-30 advantage prior to WMU going on a 7-0 run to cut the lead down to six with 14:40 remaining. The offense stalled once again as the Broncos were held scoreless for over three minutes as NIU propelled its lead back to 11 at the halfway point.

The Huskies led by as many as 15 in the second half before the Broncos embarked on a 6-0 run with four coming from Wilkins to cut its deficit to single digits with 4:44 to play.
After a converted and-one from Emilien followed by a tip-in from Dugan, the Broncos trailed by six with 35 seconds to go.

On the ensuing inbound, NIU broke the Bronco full court press for a slam dunk to regain an eight-point lead. The Broncos got a tip-in from Wilkins with two seconds left to cut the deficit down to five as the rally fell short.

Northern Illinois had four players score in double figures with forward Levi Bradley leading the team with 16 points.