German, who entered the contest . . .
Sophomore Darius Beane added 13 points and senior Lacey James (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rider) recorded his ninth career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Huskies led by three at the half before using a big run to build a lead as large as 19 while racing away from the RedHawks.
“It is a blessing,” said German of the record. “So much hard work over these past years. I couldn’t do it without my teammates and my coaches, it is just a blessing and without God I wouldn’t be able to achieve this goal. I want to give a huge shout out to Coach Monty for staying on me, believing in me, bringing me here, it is just a blessing.”
NIU (13-9, 6-3 MAC) had a three-point lead early in the second half before a 7-2 mini-run helped the Huskies extend the lead to eight. German started the run with a bucket, senior Noah McCarty added a basket and James connected on a triple from wing as the Huskies led 37-29 with 16:16 to play.
Miami (9-12, 2-6 MAC) trimmed the lead back to just a pair before the Huskies went on a 19-5 run.
German opened the run with a basket, Beane added a triple and German scored the next five as the Huskies led 47-35. The RedHawks cut the Huskie lead back to 10 before junior Zaire Mateen converted an old-fashioned three-point play and Beane connected on another from distance to give NIU a 56-40 lead with a little under eight minutes to go.
Mateen finished with eight points and five rebounds.
German then added the record-breaking basket as the Huskie lead reached 18 and he knocked in a corner triple to reach 2,000 career points and give NIU its largest lead of the night, 63-44, with 5:03 to play.
Miami cut the Huskie lead back to 13, but the result was never in doubt in the final minutes as NIU claimed its fourth-straight win.
Nike Sibande scored a team-high 13 points for the RedHawks, Dae Dae Grant and Milos Jovic each added 11.
“It was a special double tonight,” said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. “The Huskies score 70, Eugene German breaks the all-time scoring record, gets to 2,000 points, and everything else is kind of normal. Unbelievable defense, everybody knows it is going to be a slugfest, Miami is a good team. We held them under 40 (field goal percentage), under 30 (three-point percentage), that is a big goal.”
(Courtesy of NIU Athletics)