Men’s basketball defeated Central Michigan University 89-86 Tuesday in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, keeping NIU’s quest to host the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament alive.

The Huskies dominated the interior, out-rebounding the Chippewas 46-32 and converting 26 second chance points to outscore CMU 48-24 in the paint.

Senior forward Levi Bradley scored a game-high 26 points on 6-14 shooting, while senior forward Lacey James recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and a career-high 19 rebounds.

“We had the advantage inside,” Head Coach Mark Montgomery said. “We had more patience on offense to work the ball to make sure those guys got paint touches and if they miss they clean it up on rebounds.”

Both teams stumbled out of the gates offensively, combining for 6-22 shooting through the first 7 1/2 minutes of play. The Chippewas countered nearly every NIU field goal with a 3-pointer to take a 25-21 advantage with 6:45 remaining in the first half.

Bradley and senior guard Dante Thorpe combined for all the points during NIU’s 10-2 run to take a 31-27 lead with 4:31 remaining.

Central Michigan scored 13 of the ensuing 17 points before Bradley made a pair of free throws to reduce the Chippewas lead to five.

James had 10 points and 10 rebounds in the first half. Central Michigan went 8-15 from beyond the arc before the game break.

The Chippewas prolific shooting continued into the start of the second half, making their first three 3-pointers to take a 49-41 lead with 17:51 left in the game.

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The Huskies scored eight unanswered points to tie the game at 49. Neither team led by more than five until Bradley knocked down a pair of free throws to give NIU a 76-69 lead with 3:07 remaining.

The Huskies went 9-10 from the free throw line and didn’t turn the ball over in the last two minutes of the game to take the narrow 3-point victory.

NIU held Central Michigan to 12-31 shooting from the field and 4-12 shooting from beyond the arc in the second half. Thorpe finished with 16 points and four assists on 6-10 shooting. Junior guard Eugene German tallied 19 points and seven rebounds.

The Huskies 89 points were the most they scored since their Dec. 22 100-59 win against Chicago State University and their first 80-point MAC game since Jan. 8 versus the Miami University RedHawks.

NIU will play its final game of the season 6 p.m. Friday against Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. If the Huskies win, they’ll clinch the eight seed in the MAC Tournament and host the first round of the tournament Monday.

“We have to win at Ball State,” Montgomery said. “We have to keep our momentum going. We control our own destiny, we don’t have to worry about what any other team does.”

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