Northern Michigan Slips Past Minnesota-Duluth
MARQUETTE---The Northern Michigan University men's basketball team picked up its second straight win with a 56-53 non-conference victory over Minnesota-Duluth Tuesday at the Berry Events Center. The win evens the Wildcats ledger at 2-2 while Minnesota-Duluth also moved to .500 with the loss at 3-3. Three Wildcats scored in double-figures led by junior guard Terry Nash with 11. Sophomore guard Marcus Halland freshman guard Jordan Perez rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points each. Hall also had five rebounds and five assists while Perez added six assists. A pair of free throws by freshman forward Kenny Williams with 3:54 left in the first half gave NMU a 25-17 lead, its largest of the contest. The Bulldogs rebounded and finished the half on a 6-0 run cutting the Wildcats lead to 25-23 at the break. Minnesota-Duluth outscored NMU 20-13 through the first 10-minutes of the second half to take a 43-38 lead with 9:14 left to go. A three-pointer by Perez and a layup and three-pointer by Nash put the Wildcats back on top 46-45 with 5:20 left in the game. The lead would change hands three times before NMU freshman Alex Sorenson drained a three-pointer with 2:30 left to go to put the Wildcats on top the final time. A three by Hall with 1:59 gave NMU the room it needed to close out the contest. Free throws by senior forward Chavis Mattson with 13-ticks left on the clock set the final tally for the Wildcats at 56-53. "As we progress as a team, this was one step int he right direction," said NMU head coach Bill Sall. "I thought we defended very well. It was a good sign from a young team, there were times in the second half when I looked up and realized we had four freshman in the game at the same time. It was a testament to them how hard they battled." The Wildcats finished the game shooting 22-52 from the floor (42.3%) and were 7-18 from three-point range (38.9%) including going 5-10 from downtown in the second half. Minnesota-Duluth out rebounded NMU 41-32 and outscored the Wildcats 22-18 in the paint. Freshman forward Cooper Radtke led the Wildcats on the boards with 10 rebounds while sophomore forward Brett Branstrom had six. UMD had three players score in double-digits led by Brett Ervin and Reece Zoelle who each had 12 points. The Wildcats will travel to the SMSU Classic to face Wayne State (Neb.) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Southwest Minnesota State at 7 p.m. Saturday. |