German scores 28, OT winner as NIU upsets Buffalo 90-88

DEKALB, Ill. -- Eugene German scored 28 points, the last coming on a drive with four seconds left in overtime, and Northern Illinois knocked off Mid-American Conference leader Buffalo 90-88 on Saturday.

German dribbled away about 15 seconds near midcourt before darting down the lane and getting a tough floater to fall with one second on the shot clock. C.J. Massinburg's shot from just inside midcourt hit the backboard but wasn't close to going in.

Levi Bradley scored 22 points and Justin Thomas a career-high 17 for the Huskies (11-14, 4-8), who had lost four straight. NIU trailed 45-37 at the half and were down 13 with 8:19 to play, then went on an 18-1 run to go up by four. Buffalo missed seven shots, four free throws and had three turnovers in going 5:50 between baskets.

It was the foul line that did in the Bulls (18-7, 10-2), going 11 of 26. Any number of makes down the stretch could have changed the strategy for NIU, which was 14 of 17 from the line in the second half and 24 of 29 for the game. The only sub-.500 free throw games for Buffalo this year were 1 of 4 and 4 of 11 and they were 13 of 15 in their last game.

Chris Perkins had 22 points, Wes Clark 21 and Jeremy Harris 15 for Buffalo.