DeKALB – Northern Illinois sophomore guard Trendon Hankerson finished with 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting, five assists, three steals and only one turnover against Green Bay on Saturday.

Green Bay senior guard Kameron Hankerson scored five points on 1 of 3 shooting with five assists and a steal against the Huskies.

The younger brother may have had the better stat line, but it was the older brother who has bragging rights after a 85-84 win for the Phoenix over the Huskies.

"It's forever," Kameron Hankerson said emphatically after the win, in which the Huskies had a chance to connect on two last-second shots but missed both. "This is the only time we'll ever play so it's forever."

Both brothers started for their respective teams. Kameron Hankerson was below his scoring average – he came in averaging 11.4 points a game.

His younger brother stepped it up, more than doubling his 7.5 points a game average.

"You get the competitive spirit in your soul just from knowing it's your brother, growing up together, siblings fight and stuff like that," Trendon Hankerson said. "It definitely makes me a little more competitive, a little more hungry when he had the ball to have him not score. Not to mention for him to not have me score. But it was cool. I loved it."

NIU coach Mark Montgomery said he saw his sophomore guard play more aggressively Saturday.

"He definitely won the one-on-one battle with his brother," Montgomery said. "Unfortunately, his brother won the game. But it's a unique opportunity in college basketball. ... I think it's something they're definitely going to remember for the rest of their life. Credit Hankerson – unbelievable game. He left it all on the floor. We just came up a little short on the floor [Saturday]."

The brothers said they were used to playing together, two years as teammates at Novi High School in Michigan. But it was their first time playing against each other.

"We played together for a very long time, so it was a little different seeing him on the scouting report," Kameron Hankerson said. "It was a lot of fun. It brought a lot of energy today. I think it's part of the reason our guys played so well. It was great. It was interesting for sure."

It didn't happen much, but there were a couple of times one brother was guarding the other to make things even less familiar, they said.

"I think there was one time I was like, 'Oh, I got him on me I got to see if I can get to the bucket on him real quick,'" Kameron Hankerson said. "He's a pretty solid defender, and I know that. So getting to the bucket or doing anything on him it's going to be more difficult than if I do it on someone else."

Although he ended up on the wrong side of the team score, Trendon Hankerson said it was a great experience.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime type of opportunity," Trendon Hankerson said. "I'm not going to get this game back probably ever in my life unless we're off somewhere playing professional basketball, which I hope we are. Obviously, it's a huge event and I would have liked to come out with the 'W' just for bragging right s and stuff like that. Unfortunately we came out with a loss. But it's a huge game regardless for me."