After trailing by 15 early in the second half, NIU men’s basketball battled back to have a chance at victory in the final seconds, but ultimately fell to Mid-American Conference foe Western Michigan University 72-70 on Tuesday night at University Arena in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The Huskies (4-14, 0-6 MAC) started off slow with shooting as cold as the single-digit temperatures outside the arena, shooting 34.7% from the field in the first 20 minutes. Finding itself down 39-27 at halftime, NIU engineered a 24-12 run to even the score at 51-all with about nine minutes to go.
The teams continued to battle in the final minutes before NIU senior guard James Dent Jr. took the game-winning shot with one second to go, only for it to miss its mark – giving the Huskies their sixth-consecutive loss of the season and keeping them in the basement of the conference standings.
“I thought we gave ourselves a chance to win,” men’s basketball head coach Rashon Burno said in a postgame radio interview. “But I thought our Achilles heel bit us in the butt, and that’s free throw block outs.”
Dent led the team with 18 points as one of the Huskies’ four double-figure scorers. Sophomore guard Quentin Jones followed Dent’s lead with 17 points of his own – all of them coming after the intermission. Jones’ status heading into Tuesday’s game was in question as the Chicago native dealt with an ankle sprain,
“I didn’t even know if I was going to play at the start of the game,” Jones said. “And I didn’t want to leave my team out there just by theirself, so I found some energy to try to pull it together.”
Jones, who entered the game as the MAC’s fourth-leading scorer, was held scoreless in the first half, leaving Dent and junior guard Quaran McPherson to lead the initial charge.
“In the first half, I felt like the other team was kind of playing me a certain way,” Jones said. “And (in the) second half, I kind of found a rhythm and found a way to attack the defense and just started to get myself going and try to give us an extra push.”
Down 48-33 with 16:45 left to play, Dent sunk a 3-pointer to kick off a 18-3 run to tie the game at 51-all. Western Michigan then broke off on a 6-0 run before NIU surged to even the score once more at 64-64. Junior forward Ethan Butler then deposited a layup to give the Huskies a 66-65 advantage – their first lead since midway through the first half. However, the Broncos quickly reclaimed the frontrunner spot and never gave it back.
NIU made its last push with five seconds remaining after hauling in the defensive rebound from the Broncos’ missed free throw attempt. Dent gained possession of the ball, advanced past centercourt and fired off the game-winning shot from beyond the arc, only for it to ricochet off the backboard as the buzzer sounded.
“It was tough,” Dent said. “I missed the free throw; We had no timeouts; Clock was running down. I was just trying to get something up – our best shot. It kind of looked good, but it wasn’t. But my teammates and I, we’ll live with it.”
With the defeat, NIU remains winless in MAC play and drops to 1-14 against Division I opponents. The Huskies will get their next opportunity to bounce back at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, when they host Ball State University (9-9, 3-3 MAC) inside the Convocation Center for the second half of a doubleheader alongside NIU women’s basketball. The game will be available on ESPN+.
