The victory improved the Rockets' record to 21-6 overall (9-5 MAC) and kept UT a game in front of Central Michigan (18-9, 8-6 MAC) in the West Standings.
Northern Illinois dropped to 12-15 (5-9 MAC). It was the Huskies sixth consecutive loss.
NAVIGATO TIES SEASON HIGH
Senior Nate Navigato paced the Rocket attack with a season-tying high 21 points. Sophomore Marreon Jackson also was in double digits with 10 points. Navigato and Jackson each knocked down three treys in the second half to help Toledo rally for the win.
Toledo trailed 43-32 with 12:16 remaining when Navigato buried back-to-back triples to reduce NIU's cushion to five. Jackson then hit two straight corner treys and added a free throw to even the score at 48-48 with 5:23 left. Junior Luke Knapke's layup with 3:20 remaining put UT in front 52-50, a lead the Rockets' wouldn't relinquish.
Knapke topped the Rockets on the boards by tying his career high with 13 rebounds.
GERMAN, THORPE TOP HUSKIES
Senior Eugene German paced the Huskies with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-19 shooting. Classmate Dante Thorpe was the only other Huskie in double figures, hitting 5-of-11 from the field on the way to 12 points.
Toledo shot just 38.0 percent from the field but limited NIU to a 36.4 FG%. Each team knocked down eight three-point field goals, but the Rockets enjoyed a slight advantage at the charity stripe. UT converted 11-of-17 free-throw attempts, while NIU was just 6-of-11 at the line.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Northern Illinois scored the game's first six points before Willie Jackson's driving layup just over four minutes to play in the first half.
The Rockets trailed by as many as eight points before rallying at the end of the half with a 6-0 run to cut the score to 23-21.
Toledo shot 9-of-26 (34.6%) from the floor in the first half but held NIU to just 9-of-31 (29.0%) from the field.
Second Half
Toledo took its first lead of the game, 27-26, at the 18:28 mark on consecutive three-pointers from Nate Navigato and Marreon Jackson
The Huskies' Eugene German then exploded with 10 straight points to give NIU a 36-27 lead with 16:03 remaining.
Navigato drilled back to back three-point attempts to cut the Huskies' lead to 43-38 with over nine minutes left to play.
Trailing by seven points, the Rockets' Marreon Jackson took over with seven straight points, including a pair of clutch three-pointers, to tie the game at 48-48 with just over five minutes remaining.
Toledo took the lead with 3:20 left in the game on a Knapke layup to bring the score to 52-50.
The Rockets finished the game on a 9-4 run, highlighted by a Jaelan Sanford floater to give UT a 54-50 lead with 1:14 remaining.
NIU's Dante Thorpe converted a three-point play 13 seconds later to cut the Rockets' lead to one, but Navigato buried two free throws for a 56-53 lead.
Both teams then hit 1-of-2 free throws for the final margin of victory.
NIU had two three-point shots in the final 20 seconds. Sanford blocked German's attempt, while Lacey James' shot rimmed out.