Northern Illinois’ Kaleb Thornton makes layup with sneaker in hand

A Northern Illinois men’s basketball player made a nifty move in the second half of their win over Central Michigan on Tuesday night.

Kaleb Thornton scored two of his 16 points with one shoe. Thornton went for a layup with under 2 minutes to play and thought he was fouled as he went down to the floor. He was looking for a foul call as one shoe was off of his foot.

Northern Illinois would force a turnover just as the Chippewas crossed half-court. Thornton would be down by the basket with his sneaker in one hand. He caught a pass with his left hand and made the layup to give the Huskies a 71-54 lead with 1:37 left to play in the game.

Thornton was 5-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-3 from three-point range.

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David Coit led the way for Northern Illinois with 23 points. He also had three steals. Zarigue Nutter had 22 points as he went 7-of-10 from the field.

Brian Taylor led Central Michigan with 15 points and 11 rebounds and two steals. Markus Harding added 11 points. Carrington McCaskill had eight points.

Northern Illinois improved to 5-11 overall with the win and are now 1-2 in Mid-American Conference play. Central Michigan is 6-10 and 1-2 in the conference.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.