GRINDING IT OUT: Northern Rallies Past Panthers
This story was written by NMU Sports Information
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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — With a 67-58 victory over Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe Davenport, the Northern Michigan University men's basketball team has improved to 9-9 on the season and their 6-4 conference record moves them into a tie for fourth in the GLIAC standings.
Through 20 minutes of play the Wildcats and Panthers were knotted at 23 points each with Myles Howard leading the way for NMU with six points.
After falling down 16-6 early, the Wildcats rallied for a 10-0 run to tie the game up and held their opponent scoreless for 5:33 of play.
Alec Fruin posted three assists to help his team back late in the opening half while picking up three rebounds as well.
Noah Parcher knotted things up for the Wildcats, drawing a foul with less than one second to go in the first half to shoot two. Sinking both free throws, the two teams headed to the locker rooms for the break tied 23-23.
The Wildcats claimed just their second lead of the game when Marcus Matelski made his shot from beyond the arc for the 26-25 lead just 1:38 into the second half.
The two teams would swap the lead for the better part of the following 11 minutes before the Wildcats finally broke out in front when Sam Taylor posted a three-pointer of his own with 7:20 left, claiming a lead the team would not let go for the remainder of the game.
The Wildcats finished 21-of-58 for a 36.2 percent field goal percentage while owning a 30 percent rate from three.
NMU sunk nine three-point shots on 30 attempts, including seven in the second half to boost them to the 67-58 final.
Redshirt-freshman Ben Wolf led the team in threes, with three in the second half en route to his 11 points on the night.
Matelski also posted multiple baskets from beyond the arc while four others contributed to the nine total.
Myles Howard led the Wildcats in points with 14, adding 12 rebounds for the double-double, while Alec Fruin also hit double digits with 12 points in the victory.
Sam Taylor and Ben Wolf also eclipsed the double-digit point total, earning 11 points each in the 67-58 victory.
Howard posted one block at Davenport and now stands just 11 blocked shots away from the school record with 202 career blocks in his four years at NMU.
The Wildcats will travel to Grand Valley State University this Saturday for an afternoon contest in Allendale, Michigan.
