One of the reasons the NIU men’s basketball team joined the Mid-Continent Conference this year was the addition of meaningful, excitement-generating games throughout the season that a conference race generates.

The Huskies will be getting a large dose of those factors Monday when they take on Cleveland State in a 6:30 match-up at the Viking’s Woodling gym.

The Huskies are 14-2 overall and 5-1 in the conference. The Vikings, although only 9-9 overall this season, are just percentage points behind NIU in the conference race with a 5-2 mark.

Wisconsin-Green Bay jumped to 5-1 in the loop with its 72-64 victory at Cleveland State Saturday night. W-GB has the edge in the conference race, despite having the same 5-1 mark as NIU, because of its victories this season against Cleveland State and NIU on the road.

The Huskies will be aiming to set a school record against the Vikings with their seventh-straight road victory. NIU won six straight away games during the 1971-72 season and matched that mark when they defeated Akron 48-30 Saturday night.

Cleveland State has been a team surrounded by turmoil recently which resulted in veteran coach Kevin Mackey’s firing this summer. Mackey built Cleveland State into a M-C power but paid the price. The Vikings are coming off of a two-year NCAA suspension that barred the Vikings from post-season play.

Former Michigan assistant Mike Boyd took over the program and has surprised observers by leading his team towards the top of the M-C standings.

The game marks the first-ever meeting between the two schools.