KALAMAZOO, Mich. – With five seconds remaining, senior guard Jared Printy knocked down a corner three-pointer to lift the Western Michigan men's basketball team past Mid-American Conference West Division leader Northern Illinois, 72-69, on Saturday inside University Arena.

With the game tied at 69 with a little over 30 seconds remaining, the Broncos dribbled the ball at the top of the key as the shot clock wound down. With four seconds left on the shot clock, freshman B. Artis White used a screen from junior Michael Flowers to get away from his defender and found Printy for a corner three to give WMU a three-point lead with 5.8 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing inbound, Northern Illinois guard Eugene German hoisted a shot to tie from near half court that bounced off the rim to give WMU a 72-69 home victory. It was the second game-winning three-pointer for Printy this season, connecting on a go-ahead three with six seconds left at Manhattan back on Dec. 14.

Offensively the Broncos were led by the junior duo of Brandon Johnson and Flowers, who each scored 20 points against the Huskies. Flowers scored 10 of his 20 points in the second half while going 8-of-13 from the field and was 4-of-5 from long distance.

Redshirt junior Johnson matched Flowers with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and was 3-of-4 from three-point range. Johnson also led the team with seven rebounds to go along with two assists and one block. The Chicago, Ill., native is now just 38 points away from becoming the 44^th member of WMU's 1,000-point club.

The freshman trio of White, Titus Wright and Chase Barrs each had six points against the Huskies with White matching his career high with six rebounds. White was 2-of-4 from the field with two three-pointers and led the team with four assists. Off the bench, Barrs was 1-of-2 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line with five rebounds and two assists in 18 minutes.

In 15 minutes, Printy scored six points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field with two threes, highlighted by his second game-winner of the season. Junior Rafael Cruz Jr scored four points to go along with three rebounds against NIU while redshirt sophomore Jason Whitens had three points and sophomore Patrick Emilien had one.

As a team the Broncos shot a staggering 54.2 percent from the field and matched their season high with 12 three-pointers. Over the past two games, the Broncos are shooting 63.2 percent (24-of-39) from behind the three-point line. WMU outrebounded NIU, 34-27, and forced the Huskies to commit 11 turnovers, scoring 11 points off of Husky mistakes. Following its 42-point performance off the bench at Ball State the Broncos registered 17 points off the bench with Barrs and Printy leading the way with six each.

With the win WMU snapped its five-game losing skid and has now won 14 straight home games over Northern Illinois. With two games remaining in the regular season, the Broncos have an overall record of 12-17 and 5-11 in MAC play.

The Broncos return to the court for its final home game on Tuesday, March 3 at 7:00 p.m. against in-state rival Eastern Michigan. Tuesday's contest is Senior Night as the Western Michigan men's basketball program will honor Printy and Adida Ikongshul prior to the game.

It was a hot start for the Broncos in the first half as the Brown & Gold connected of five of its first eight shots to grab a 11-7 lead at the 14:55 mark. After the two teams traded baskets, the Broncos widened their lead to 18-9 at the 12-minute mark thanks to making four of their next five field goals.

Johnson knocked down the first of his three three-pointers on the night to extend the Bronco lead to double digits at 21-11 with nine minutes remaining in the first half. The Bronco defense held NIU scoreless for nearly four minutes during the later stages of the first half and gained a 26-15 advantage with three minutes to play.

NIU rallied back with a 7-0 run to cut the WMU lead down to single digits before Flowers scored five straight points to propel the Broncos to a 32-22 lead. The Huskies knocked down a 15-foot jumper to end the first half as WMU held a 32-24 lead at halftime.

Western Michigan continued to hold on to a double digit lead early in the second half highlighted by an and-one from Johnson to give the Brown & Gold a 42-32 advantage. The Broncos jumped out to an 18-point lead with 8:41 remaining after White knocked down back-to-back threes, forcing NIU to call a timeout trailing 61-43. White's two from long distance highlighted a 13-2 run for WMU.

However, the Huskies rallied back and embarked on a 16-1 run to trim the Bronco lead down to 62-59 with three minutes left to play. During NIU's run the Broncos were held scoreless from the field for nearly five minutes.

NIU made six of its next eight field goals to tie the game at 64 with two minutes left before Johnson drilled a corner three to propel the Broncos back in front. The lead didn't last long as NIU's German converted an and-one to tie the game back up at 67 with 1:42 remaining.

On the next possession, Flowers drove the lane and got off a shot that hit nothing but net to give WMU a 69-67 lead with 1:20 remaining. The game stayed at 69-67 prior to German connecting on a reverse lay-up to tie the game at 69 with a little over 30 seconds left.

Out of a timeout the Broncos dribbled the ball at the top of the key as the shot clock winded down. With four seconds left on the shot clock White dribbled right and got a screen from Flowers to get away from his defender before finding Printy for the go-ahead three with 5.8 seconds remaining. On the ensuing inbound German raced up the court and got off a three-point attempt from near half court that bounced off the back end of the rim and gave WMU the 72-69 victory.

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