Taj Walters’ tip-in at the buzzer lifted the Northern Illinois University men’s basketball to a 74-73 victory over Central Michigan on Saturday, giving the Huskies a win in the Mid-American Conference opener at the NIU Convocation Center.

The Huskies trailed by 20 with 14:30 left.

“To be down 20 at home, you really don’t know what you have until you are tested,” NIU head coach Rashon Burno said. “We have all the mantras, stay together, shared adversity, but until you are getting challenged and squeezed, you don’t know what you have. We ended up on the right side because the guys stuck together. They got stops, they made free throws. It wasn’t a lot of loud plays, they just diligently broke (Central Michigan) down possession-after-possession.”

NIU’s 20-point comeback is its largest since Nov. 30, 2014, when the Huskies overcame a 21-point deficit to defeat Maine, 61-56.

Dylan Ducommun netted a team-high 18 points, Gustav Winther finished with a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Walters scored 13 points and Makhai Valentine chipped in 10 points.

Tailing 62-45 with 9:40 left, five straight points from Ducommun started a 9-2 spurt for NIU as the Huskies cut the Central Michigan lead down to just 10. Winther and Walters added baskets off offensive rebounds during the burst as the Huskies trimmed the Chippewas’ lead to 64-54 with 7:42 to go.

Central Michigan led 73-66 with 1:54 left, but NIU scored the next six on free throws from Winther and Ducommun, sandwiched around a Ducommun bucket, as NIU cut the Chippewa lead to one, 73-72, with 12 seconds remaining.

NIU (5-7, 1-0 MAC) fouled with 6.8 seconds remaining and Central Michigan missed the front end of the one-and-one. With no timeouts, the Huskies raced the length of the floor and Ducommun missed the initial shot, but Walters tipped the ball in just before the horn to complete the comeback.

“Coach Burno has been telling me to be a dawg on the boards,” Walters said. “I saw Dylan (Ducommun) drive, he could have made the shot, but I didn’t want to give up on the play. There was a rebound, I got it and that was it.”

Central Michigan 89, NIU 51: At Mount Pleasant, Neveah Wingate scored 10 points in the loss for the Huskies (2-9, 0-1).