With just seven scholarship players in the lineup, walk-on Steven Tipton (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield Central) stepped to the free-throw line and calmly made a pair of free throws with 16.6 seconds left to help the Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team claim a 75-72 victory over Toledo on Tuesday night (Feb. 27) at Savage Arena.

David Coit (Columbus, N.J./Atlantic Cape CC) had 27 points, Will Lovings-Watts (Jeffersonville, Ind./Putnam Science) had his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds while Oluwasegun Durosinmi (Lagos, Nigeria/St. Bonaventure) scored a career-best 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting.

“These guys have been beaten up, lost confidence, but they have stayed together,” said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. “This team has been battling unbelievable adversity, but this has been a resilient group. The numbers are not what we thought they would be this year, but we still have games left to go out and compete.

“We stuck together; we have nothing to lose. You have to go out and compete and that’s the only thing I care about.”

NIU (10-18, 4-11 MAC) overcame a nine-point halftime deficit in a game that featured three ties and nine lead changes.

The game was tied at 60 when Coit knocked in a triple to put the Huskies up three with 4:28 left. A corner triple from Lovings-Watts gave NIU a 66-62 lead, but Toledo answered right back with a three to trim the NIU lead back to just one with 3:04 remaining.

NIU still led by one when Yanic Konan Niederhauser (Fraschels, Switzerland/Ursping) scored, giving the Huskies a 70-67 advantage with 1:57 left.

Toledo (17-11, 11-4 MAC) scored to make it a one-point game again, only to see Coit knock in his sixth triple of the night, giving the Huskies a 73-69 lead with 1:12 remaining. Following an empty possession by both teams, the Rockets made a basket to get within one, 73-72, with 26.1 seconds left.

On the ensuing possession, NIU got the ball across halfcourt before Tipton was fouled with 16.3 seconds left. Despite having not taken a shot in 10 minutes of action, Tipton calmly made both free throws to give the Huskies a three-point lead.

Toledo called a timeout and looked for a triple to tie the game in the final moments, but the shot came up well short as NIU earned the road victory.

NIU shot 60.7 percent (17-of-28) from the field in the second half, including 70 percent (7-of-10) from three-point range. Coit made five second half triples and Lovings-Watts added a pair.

Toledo led 10-2 in the early going before an old-fashioned three-point play from Coit brought the Huskies within five, 10-5. The Rockets scored the next five as Toledo took a 15-5 lead with just over 14 minutes to play in the opening half.

A layup from Zion Russell (Upper Marlboro, Md./National Christian Academy) and an alley-oop from Russell to Konan Niederhauser brought the Huskies within a half-dozen, 15-9.

NIU used an 8-2 run to pull within three, 22-19. Coit opened the burst with a triple, Russell added a three and Tipton found Harvin Ibarguen (Cali, Colombia/Seward County CC) for a dunk with 8:15 to play in the first half to cut the Rocket advantage to just one possession.

Russell finished with nine points, five rebounds and five assists.

Coit extended the run with back-to-back layups as the Huskies took a 23-22 lead with just over six minutes to play before the break.

With the contest tied at 25, Toledo closed the half on a 12-3 run to take a 37-28 lead into the intermission. Coit had 13 points to lead NIU at the break, Tyler Cochran had 11 points to pace the Rockets. Toledo shot 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from the field in the opening 20 minutes.

Lovings-Watts opened the second half with an old-fashioned three-point play and Ibarguen finished at the rim off a feed from Coit as NIU trimmed the Toledo advantage to just four, 37-33, in the opening minutes of the second half.

The Rockets led by seven, 43-36, until NIU used an 8-2 burst to pull within one, 45-44. Ibarguen opened the run with a free throw, Coit added a layup, Lovings-Watts knocked in a triple from the wing and Russell converted at the rim with 11:16 to play, bringing NIU within one.

NIU went in front as Konan Niederhauser made a pair of free throws and Durosinmi slipped to the basket for a dunk off a feed from Lovings-Watts, giving the Huskies a 50-49 lead with 8:32 left.

The lead swung back-and-forth with NIU going back in front on a triple from Coit with 4:28 remaining, giving the Huskies a 63-60 lead, setting up the game’s final minutes.

Cochran scored 27 points to lead Toledo, Dante Maddox Jr. added 13 points and Javan Simmons chipped in 12 points.

NIU will be back on the road on Saturday, March 2, when the Huskies travel to Akron. Game time against the Zips is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT.