DeKALB, Ill. – Noah McCarty hit go-ahead shots on Northern Illinois’ final two possessions, and Ben Roderick missed a jumper at the buzzer as the Huskies held off Ohio 61-59 on Tuesday night at The Convocation Center in DeKalb, Illinois.

McCartney hit a 3-pointer from the wing to give the Huskies a 59-57 lead, and after Ben Vander Plas tied it with two free throws, McCartney spun away from a defender in the lane to knock down a short jumper for the game-winner with 18 seconds remaining.

Vander Plas led Ohio (10-11, 2-6 Mid-American Conference) with 18 points and eight rebounds, but he went just 4 of 11 from the foul line despite making the two shots late. Lunden McDay had 13 points and five rebounds, and Jason Preston finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Eugene German paced the Huskies (12-9, 5-3 MAC) with 18 points, with McCarty scoring 16 and adding six rebounds. Tyler Cochran had 12 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

Nate Springs connected on a 3-pointer to give Ohio a 32-27 lead at halftime, but Northern Illinois was strong to start the second half and used a 7-0 run to take a 50-41 lead with 8:50 remaining. A minute later, Nathan Scott’s 3-pointer gave the Huskies their biggest lead of 53-43.

A McDay 3-pointer and Vandr Plas basket cut Northern Illinois’ lead in half, and later, a Vander Plas free throw made it 55-51. McDay’s two free throws with 3:39 to go cut the Huskies’ lead to two, and Vander Plas scored following an offensive rebound to knot the game at 55 with more than three minutes left.

Cochran split two free throws to put the Huskies back on top 56-55, but Vander Plas scored after another offensive board to give the lead back to the Bobcats 57-56. He was fouled but failed to convert the three-point play with 2:19 remaining.

Ohio forced German to miss on the other end to preserve their lead, but Ohio could not add to it, with Preston missing from long range. McCarty knocked down his go-ahead 3-pointer on the ensuing possession.

The Bobcats shot just 39.6% in the game, including 7 of 24 from long range, and were 10 of 18 on free throws. Jordan Dartis was just 2 of 11 in the game – 2 of 10 on 3-pointers – but Ohio got a boost from McDay, who hit 3 of 5 attempts form deep.

Northern Illinois shot a little bit better at 43.4%, including 7 of 16 on 3-pointers, and made 8 of 13 free throws.

Ohio tries to snap its three-game losing streak when it heads to Muncie, Indiana, to face Ball State at 1 p.m. Saturday.