Heading into its last game of the season, NIU men’s basketball had nothing to play for while the Central Michigan University Chippewas had everything to lose.
Sitting at eighth place in the Mid-American Conference coming into the matchup, Central Michigan faced elimination from the MAC tournament with a loss.
Despite the odds slanted against the Huskies, NIU (6-25, 2-16 MAC) earned its first road win of the season, spoiling Central Michigan’s hopes of a postseason appearance in an 83-81 double-overtime thriller.
“We said it pregame, you know, ‘I wouldn’t want to be anywhere but in this locker room to start this game,’ because I knew the guys had the right mindset,” said NIU men’s basketball coach Rashon Burno. “We’ve been on the losing end of a lot of close games, and so I told them, ‘just keep this close, something’s got to break for us.’ And those guys did.”
With the loss, the Chippewas (14-17, 7-11 MAC) dropped to ninth place in the MAC on their senior night.
NIU won despite its leading scorer, sophomore guard Quentin Jones, playing two minutes and logging 1 point. Instead, senior guard James Dent Jr. took the lead, finishing with a game-high 36 points – enough for a career high.
“I told him (Dent), ‘you have to be the maestro the whole game and the second half, because we need you,’” Burno said. “This (Dent’s career-high performance) was huge for him.”
Two of Dent’s 36 points came at the final buzzer, sealing the double-overtime thriller unintentionally.
With one second remaining, Dent squeezed through a pair of Central Michigan defenders and drilled the game-winning basket while originally attempting a pass to junior guard Steven Tipton.
Forced to carry the load after three Huskies fouled out, Dent also grabbed 9 rebounds, dished out 3 assists and swiped 2 steals while playing all 50 minutes.
As redshirt freshman forward Tsvet Sotirov, freshman forward Jayden Mott and graduate student guard Joe Munden Jr. each fouled out, three walk-ons received significant playing time. Needless to say, junior guard Mo Sall, Tipton and freshman guard David Mack rose to the occasion.
Finishing with a career-high 7 points, Mack scored five consecutive points in the last two minutes to help put NIU in position to win.
“He’s (Mack’s) probably one of the most confident walk-ons I have ever had,” Burno said. “I’m happy for him, and happy for all those guys (NIU’s walk-ons). This has been a difficult season, but it’s a testament to the guys in the locker room.”
First, Mack drilled a three-pointer to give the Huskies the lead with just over two minutes to play. Leading into Dent’s game-winning bucket, Mack proceeded to drive to the cup for a layup to extend the Huskies’ lead to 81-77 late in the second overtime period.
The trio of walk-ons were vital to the Huskies’ victory, combining for 20 points, 16 rebounds and 2 steals.
NIU was in control from the start, igniting a 13-4 run early with the help of three quick three-pointers. The Huskies’ maintained their multi-possession lead throughout the remainder of the first half.
Although NIU retained the lead, Central Michigan chipped away at its deficit with NIU leading 30-25 going into halftime.
Central Michigan swiftly took the lead at the start of the second half, scoring six-straight to take a one-point advantage just over a minute into the second half. The Huskies punched back as Dent drilled a three-pointer to end the Chippewas’ scoring spree.
From there, the teams went blow-for-blow until the final buzzer. Dent sank a jump shot with 11 seconds remaining before NIU clamped up on defense to leave regulation tied at 68 and send the game to overtime.
The back-and-forth play continued into the first overtime period, as neither team jumped ahead by more than two points. With 1:16 remaining, Chippewa redshirt junior forward DeCorion Temple evened the game at 74.
Neither team scored, forcing a second overtime.
From there, the game remained tight until Dent saved the Huskies once again to hand NIU its first win since Jan. 25 against Ball State.
As Friday’s matchup was the Huskies’ final game of the 2024-25 season, NIU will return to action in December for its 2025-26 campaign.
Burno commented on how NIU can maximize the upcoming offseason, stressing the importance of the transfer portal.
“We got to get size and we got to get athletic,” Burno said. “We’ve got some cavalry on the way, but we got to do a good job in the transfer portal to get up. We got to get a lead guard that can run the offense.”
