DeKALB | Just like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the NIU men’s basketball team went down with its guns blazing.

The dynamic duo for NIU against Toledo was James Hughes and point guard Cody Yelder.

An active Hughes scored a game-high 25 points, and corralled a game-leading and career-high 14 rebounds. The senior center’s seven offensive rebounds were more than any Rocket’s single total.

Yelder played the role of flashy sidekick, using lightning-quick speed on the dribble penetration to tally 19 points.

Since returning from a knee injury, the freshman from Calumet Park has provided a spark to the offense that has been sorely missed.

“Yelder makes NIU a different team with his ball-handling and athletic ability,” Toledo coach Stan Joplin said. “Hughes played like he is ready for the next level. He put up some big numbers tonight.”

Despite their game leading success, neither took the final shot.

Trailing 84-83 with 17.9 seconds left, Yelder went to work and the wheels of the NIU offense began to turn.

Hughes battled for post position as the 6-foot-1 guard from Richards High School tried to break down Kashif Payne.

A cross-over, juke and a head fake couldn’t shake the junior guard.

Yelder, 6 of 9 from the field, deferred to senior guard Ryan Paradise, who at the time was 3 for 11. With six seconds left, the Naperville native got separation from his defender and shot a 14-foot jumper as he was slightly fading away.

The shot was on line, but the ball spun around the rim like a yo-yo on a string and finally trickled out into the hands of Toledo senior forward Justin Ingram.

“We wanted to open up the court to give our guards an opportunity to beat the defense,” NIU coach Rob Judson said.

A slight timing miscue on a base line corner screen however didn’t free up a curling Hughes in front of the basket for a penetration and pitch play, so the final shot fell into the hands of Paradise.

“Cody and Ryan made some aggressive plays there,” Judson said. “We got what we wanted, a shot with five or six seconds left.”