A buzzer beating tip-in ended a back-and-forth affair between the NIU and Western Michigan men’s basketball teams on Saturday afternoon.

NIU held a 16-point lead in the first half, but lost all but six points of the advantage before halftime. WMU caught the Huskies (6-11, 2-3 MAC) five minutes into the second half and set forth a series of lead changes that wouldn’t stop until Matt Stainbrook tipped in a Demetrius Ward miss with half a second left.

The bucket sent the University Arena crowd into a state of elation and sent the Huskies home with an 82-80 loss.

“The momentum was on our side at the time,” said NIU head coach Ricardo Patton. “We defended the initial shot as best we could, but the tip-in found its way in.”

Prior to the Stainbrook tip-in, Xavier Silas hit a game-tying, three-point shot with 15 seconds left in regulation, putting the Huskies on defense with a chance to send the game into overtime. The senior guard finished with a game-high 23 points.

The Huskies found themselves behind by nine points halfway through the second half. The deficit forced NIU to rely heavily on its bench to get back into the game. Antone Christian and Michael Patton chipped in eight and five points, respectively.

“We only had one day of preparation, so contributions from our bench were what we needed today,” Patton said. “We still needed guys that always get a lot of minutes to produce like Tim Toler and Xavier Silas, but we needed guys off the bench to contribute.”

Sinking 4-of-5 shots from behind the three-point arc on Saturday afternoon, Toler finished with 18 points.

Sharp-shooting and smothering defense forged a large first half lead for NIU. Scoring the first 10 points of the game, the road-weary Huskies got the start they were looking for.

The Broncos were coming off a shocking 73-60 loss to Toledo and were in danger of suffering back-to-back losses at home to MAC opponents.

Eventually, the Western Michigan (10-8, 3-2 MAC) offense found a groove. Stainbrook and Ward were hitting shots at will, while the tired Huskies were having trouble just getting up and down the floor.

“I feel for Northern [Illinois] to play two road games like this and lose by two both times,” said WMU coach Steve Hawkins. “I don’t feel for them so much that I wished they had won, but it’s still a testament to the league and how even things are.”

NIU left Illinois on Thursday with a chance to start 4-1 in the MAC, but proceeded to go 0-2 in the state of Michigan. The Huskies lost to Central Michigan 66-64 on Thursday. For the second time in as many games, Patton liked how the Huskies played, but remained disappointed with another close loss.