NIU’s emotions ran high on Senior Day. Several hard fouls plagued a physical game won by Central Michigan, 80-73, on Saturday.

The physical play helped make for a marathon game that lasted more than two–and–a–half hours. Both teams combined to shoot 79 free throws, with NIU (6-19 overall, 3-10 MAC) going 30–for–46 from the foul line and CMU (12-15, 7-7) connecting on 26 of 33 attempts.

“It was a tough way for our seniors to go out,” NIU head coach Ricardo Patton said. “We had opportunities and we squandered them all at the free-throw line.”

NIU senior Shaun Logan seemed to find himself in the middle of that physical play. The forward caught an elbow to the face and was shoved in the back when driving for a layup.

Logan led all NIU seniors with nine points in his home finale.

“It’s my last home game I’m going to have here,” Logan said. “I felt comfortable from the beginning, but at the same time, it’s kind of sad.”

Despite the focus on the seniors, it was a freshman who stole the spotlight for NIU. Guard Jake Anderson scored a game–high 23 points. However, he struggled from the line, hitting just nine of 16 free throws. Anderson grabbed 11 rebounds for the Huskies.

Guard Jarvis Nichols was also impressive for NIU. The junior scored 17 points and was a perfect 11–for–11 from the charity stripe before fouling out late in the second half.

NIU struggled defensively at times, especially when it came to Chippewa forward Marko Spica. Despite playing just 12 minutes, the forward scored 19 points and shot 6–for–7 from the field.

“That’s the mark of a very gifted offensive player,” CMU head coach Ernie Zeigler said. “However, he has struggled with doing more than just scoring.”

In honor of Senior Day, Patton changed his starting line-up so that seniors Logan, Michael Hart, Ben Rand and Egan Grafel would all start.

The game, which was at the back end of a doubleheader with the women’s team, also had season-high attendance, with 3,071 fans at the Convocation Center.

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