DeKALB – Like it had done all season, the Northern Illinois men's basketball team found a way to win at home – now it needs to find a way to win three games in Cleveland.
Playing without one of their best players, the No. 7 seed Huskies used a dominating defense to propel themselves to a 56-50 win over No. 10 Western Michigan in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament on Monday night in the NIU Convocation Center – improving to 18-1 at home on the season.
"They've been very supportive, we've had great crowds this year," said Northern Illinois coach Mark Montgomery, who even grabbed a microphone immediately after the game to address the crowd of 1,594.