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Northern Michigan Men Smack Lake Superior State
 This story was written by NMU Sports Information. Click the AUDIO buttons to hear post-game comments from Coach Matt Majkrzak, Max Weisbrod, Max Bjorklund, and Sam Privet's player spotlight interview. MARQUETTE, Mich. - The NMU men's basketball team defeated the Lake Superior State Lakers 87-72 in a Sunday GLIAC matchup behind significant contributions throughout the lineup. Max Bjorklund once again led the 'Cats in scoring with 23 points on 7-16 shooting while dishing out 5 assists. Max Weisbrod contributed 16 points on a 6-9 shooting clip. He added 6 rebounds. Off the bench, Najashi Tolefree brought energy for an all-around performance. He had 13 points and led the team with 7 rebounds (4 off. rebounds). Brian Parzych stuffed the stat sheets with 11 points, 7 assists, and 5 steals. The Wildcats (8-3, 3-1 GLIAC) had their second straight 20-assist performance while holding the Lakers (4-5, 3-1 GLIAC) to seven. Each side shot over 50% from the floor, but 47 fouls in the contest (26 in the first half) were the main cause of a game that didn't see much rhythm. A big difference for NMU in the contest was making LSSU pay for their turnovers. NMU scored 24 points when LSSU turned over the ball while the Lakers only managed five. The Green and Gold opened the afternoon with a sequence of triples from Max Bjorklund, Brian Parzych, and Max Weisbrod. The Lakers had a presence both down low and beyond the arc early, keeping it close. Najashi Tolefree provided a spark off the bench for NMU, scoring seven straight out of a media timeout including an and-one down low and a three at the top of the key. Tolefree was doing more than scoring, as he also had an impressive play of crashing the offensive glass, and feeding teammate Sam Privet with a no-look dime to bring the Wildcat faithful to their feet. After a smooth first few minutes in the half, the rest of the half lost its rhythm with 26 fouls being called in the half. The Wildcats were at the line 14 times in the opening half while LSSU had a dozen attempts of their own. An 8-1 Lakers run to close the half made it 39-36 Northern after 20 minutes of action. Each side eclipsed 50% shooting, with Caden Ebeling scoring 12 for LSSU and Bjorklund packing NMU with 9. The Wildcats flipped the script to start the second half, scoring the first 10 points to gain their largest advantage at 49-36 just over 100 seconds into the half. Bjorklund had a quick 5 points while Brian Parzych finished the run with a smooth and-one. Just as he did in the first half, Tolefree entered the action and made an impact, getting to the charity stripe and knocking down a tough shot in the paint to cross double figures. In the back half of the second, each side put together a short run to toggle the feel in the crowd. NMU put together six straight to go up 16 with 12 minutes to play, but LSSU had a 7-0 run of their own to make it a 9-point contest with eight minutes on the clock. Down the stretch, Max Weisbrod crashed the glass for a putback and rained in a deep triple the next time down the floor. Along with Bjorklund, the Max's helped NMU maintain a double-digit margin that they would not relinquish, putting away the Lakers with an 87-72 victory.
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