DeKALB, Ill. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team fell at Northern Illinois, 85-65, on Tuesday evening.
 
Three players scored in double-figures for Western Michigan (8-13, 2-7 MAC), led by Brady Swartz, who tallied 16 points and collected a team-leading six rebounds. Trey Lewis and Justice Williams chipped in 10 points apiece.
 
NIU (7-13, 3-6) got out to a quick start, tallying the first 10 points of the evening. The Huskies extended their advantage to 21-8, before Western Michigan notched seven straight points to close the gap to 21-15. Northern Illinois came right back with the next six to push the margin back into double-digits, 27-15. The Broncos scored the final six points of the period to trim the deficit to 35-30 at halftime.
 
The second half started in similar fashion to the first, with Northern Illinois using an 11-2 run to extend its advantage to 46-32. WMU worked its way back to within 10, 50-40, after eight straight Trey Lewis points, but the Huskies countered with 12 in a row to extend the margin to 62-40 and put the game beyond reach.
 
Western Michigan shot 34.6 percent (18-of-52) for the evening, while Northern Illinois connected on 50.0 percent (32-of-64) from the floor.
 
The Broncos have a bye from their MAC schedule this coming weekend and are slated to begin the second half of their conference slate next Tuesday, Feb. 3, at Ohio. Tip against the Bobcats is set for 7 pm on ESPN+.