Yanic Konan Niederhauser (Fraschels, Switzerland/Ursping) had a career-high 27 points to lead three players in double figures for the Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team who fell to Central Michigan, 69-63, on Tuesday night (March 5) at the NIU Convocation Center.

David Coit (Columbus, N.J./Atlantic Cape CC) scored 12 points and Will Lovings-Watts (Jeffersonville, Ind./Putnam Science) added 11 for the Huskies who fell behind 17-4 in the opening five minutes and were unable to recover.

“It was disappointing from an effort standpoint,” said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. “We didn’t have the right intentions to go out and compete. We went down 17-4, and this is the same group coming off Toledo and Akron where, at the eight-minute mark, those games were ultra-competitive. I don’t think we had the right focus, I thought we came in lethargic.”

The two teams shot nearly identical percentages from the field and CMU was 24-of-59 (40.7 percent) and NIU was 23-of-58 (39.7 percent), but the Chippewas shot 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from three and the Huskies shot just 22.7 percent (5-of-22).

Central Michigan (17-13, 11-6 MAC) jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead in the opening three minutes of the contest. Following a bucket from Zion Russell (Upper Marlboro, Md./National Christian Academy), the Chippewas scored the next seven as the visitors took a 13-point lead with 15:18 to play in the first half.

NIU (10-20, 4-13 MAC) answered with a 15-4 run to pull with a pair. Konan Niederhauser scored the final 11 points of the burst, including a triple and four free throws, as the Huskies trimmed the Central Michigan lead to 21-19 with 6:39 left before the intermission.

After the Chippewas scored four-straight, Konan Niederhauser added another basket and Coit knocked in a trifecta to pull the Huskies within one, 25-24, with just under four minutes left in the half.

Central Michigan took a four-point lead into halftime, 32-28. Konan Niederhauser scored 17 points to lead all scorers in the opening 20 minutes, Derrick Butler had 10 points to pace the Chippewas.

Six of the first eight points to start the second half were scored by Central Michigan as the Chippewas quickly pushed their advantage to eight, 38-30.

Lovings-Watts scored the first five points of the second half for the Huskies but a triple from Butler helped the CMU lead grow to a dozen, 45-33, with 16:12 to play.

With the Chippewas in front by 10, Coit and Steven Tipton (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield Central) knocked in back-to-back triples to cut the Central Michigan lead to 52-48 with 11:53 remaining.

The visitors answered with a 9-2 burst, seven of which came from the free-throw line, as Central Michigan extended its advantage to 61-50 with just under nine minutes to play.

A triple with 3:45 left gave CMU a nine-point lead, but Konan Niederhauser scored the next four to bring the Huskies back within five, 67-62, with 1:56 left, but the Chippewas got a score and a stop to take a seven-point lead into the final minute as they closed out the road victory.

Butler finished with 24 points to lead Central Michigan, Paul McMillan IV added 12 points while Hunter Harding and Cayden Vasko each scored 10.

NIU will close the season on Friday night, March 8, as the Huskies travel to Buffalo. Game time against the Bulls is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.