Men’s basketball played in two games that each went down to the wire, coming up with mixed results.

The Huskies (12-14, 6-8 MAC) took down Eastern Michigan, 61-59, in a double-overtime thriller at the Convocation Center Thursday before falling to Central Michigan, 70-67, in the final seconds on the road Sunday.

Redshirt junior center Jordan Threloff was the difference maker in the Huskies’ victory over the Eagles (15-12, 7-7 MAC). He posted his first career double-double by scoring 27 points and grabbing 18 rebounds, nine of them offensive.

With his 18 rebounds, Threloff became the first Huskie to grab 15 or more rebounds in a game since Todd Peterson in 2006 against Western Michigan.

“I’m going to give Jordan Threloff the game ball,” said coach Mark Montgomery. “You know, 27 points, 18 rebounds, thanks for coming home. Big difference when you have a post presence.”

Threloff also hit the game-winning shot for the Huskies in double overtime. Following a missed layup by wing Darrell Bowie, Threloff tipped the ball back in with 0.8 seconds remaining.

“He played an unbelievable game tonight,” said Eastern Michigan coach Rob Murphy. “Offensively, defensively, consistently rebounding, consistently scoring and stepping up to the line and making his free throws. I give him a lot of credit. I think he took a step toward being a dominant big man in this league.”

The Huskies’ plan was to establish their inside game, and they succeeded. Their play in the paint was the difference in the game as they outscored the Eagles 34-14 inside. NIU also out-rebounded the Eagles 63-42 and outscored them 20-10 in second chance points.

“I think getting post touches, paint touches — because the guards drove in there to and then all of a sudden the bigs have to collapse — it’s the difference in the game,” Montgomery said. “When you look back to the two games last year, I remember our first game playing Eastern Michigan we took 33 3-pointers.”

Guard Aaric Armstead also recorded his first career double-double, scoring 13 points with 10 rebounds.

Sunday, the Chippewas (10-16, 3-11 MAC) got the best of the Huskies thanks in large part to their play from behind the arc. Central Michigan hit 11 3-point field goals led by guards Chris Fowler and Braylon Rayson, who each hit three. Fowler scored 15 points while Rayson led the Chippewas with 19 points.

The Huskies faced a deficit as big as 12 with 18 minutes left in the second half, trailing 39-27. They fought back the entire second half and cut the lead to six with 32 seconds left.

On the Huskies’ next possession, Threloff converted on a 3-point play to cut the score to 68-65. Central Michigan forward Rayshawn Simmons answered with two free throws and forward Aksel Bolin came right back with a layup for the Huskies.

On the inbounds pass, guard Travon Baker came up with a steal and the Huskies called a timeout with three seconds remaining. Out of the timeout, Bolin took a contested 3, but it came up short as the Chippewas held on for the win.

“We put ourselves in a position where we were climbing uphill and needed everything to go perfect, and today it didn’t go perfect,” Montgomery said. “Credit Central Michigan, they made two or three contested 3’s late … They shortened the game. We shot 50 percent in the second half, but they made plays at the end of the shot clock.”

Armstead led the Huskies, scoring a career-high 19 points while going three for five from behind the arc. Bowie added 14 points and guard Daveon Balls scored 10 points.