What happened

Men’s basketball (13-15, 7-10 MAC) won its third-straight game, taking down the Western Michigan Broncos (18-12, 9-8 MAC) Tuesday at the Convocation Center.

How it happened

With the Huskies leading just by one and with only two minutes left, senior Aaron Armstead hit his fourth 3-pointer of the night to stretch the Huskies’ lead to four. Western Michigan’s David Brown responded with a lay-up to cut the lead to two.

After an offensive foul gave the ball back to Western Michigan, redshirt senior Jordan Threloff came up big, swatting away a shot from junior Connar Tava. Threloff was then fouled and sent to the line, where he converted his second free-throw attempt, putting NIU back up by three with seven seconds left on the clock. Western Michigan put together two more trips to the free-throw line in the finals seconds, but the Broncos could only come away with one make, leaving the Huskies victorious.

After a hot start from both teams in the first half, Western Michigan was able to hold onto the lead until midway through the second half. Aaron Armstead hit a 3-pointer to put NIU up by one and turned the game into a back-and-forth affair before the Huskies finally came out on top.

Threloff finished the game with 13 points and picked up seven rebounds. Junior Darrell Bowie scored nine points, and junior Travon Baker scored seven points and added five assists and two steals.

The number: 23

That’s the number of free-throw attempts the Huskies had in the second half after not getting to the line in the first half. NIU came out aggressive in the final 20 minutes, and it showed in the Huskies’ trips to the line.

Northern Star players of the game

Aaron Armstead led all scorers with 17 points. After scoring just five points in the first half, Armstead scored 12 in the second, making all four of his field goal attempts, including three big 3-pointers. He hit four of his five 3-point attempts.

David Brown scored 14 points, 11 of which came in the second half. Brown also had three rebounds and four assists.

The quotes

“I was feeling it, but more, I was determined not to lose on Senior Night,” Aaron Armstead said.

“I honestly thought they were going to go to Brown for the win; obviously he’s a great shooter and a great player,” Threloff said. “Tava got in front of me in the post, and I knew he was going to try and use his speed to get around me, so I gave him some space. He went up, and I just got a hand on it.”

“I thought it was just like the game in Kalamazoo,” said head coach Mark Montgomery. “It seemed like either team couldn’t get much separation. Playing Western Michigan, it’s like a mirror image of playing ourselves.”