MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Northern Michigan men's basketball team lost their GLIAC opener Thursday night 95-66 to Walsh at the Berry Events Center.

The loss dropped NMU to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in GLIAC action. Walsh improved to 4-0 with a 1-0 mark in league play.

The Wildcats were led by freshman guard Dorrell Foster who led all scorers with 22 points. Foster was 7-10 from the floor and 8-9 from the free throw line. Northern Michigan won the battle in the paint outscoring Walsh 36-24 down low. Walsh outrebounded NMU 34-25.

"We didn't play as hard as we needed to play in order to play in the conference," said NMU head coach Bill Sall. "For us to be capable enough to be in games like this against GLIAC teams we are going to have to do a better job on the defensive end."

Freshman guard Marcus Hall had 11 points and junior forward Chavis Mattison added 10, rounding out the Wildcats scoring in double-figures. Hall also led NMU on the boards, pulling down five rebounds and was 5-5 from the free throw line.

Walsh jumped out to a 46-31 lead at the half, but NMU was able to cut the lead to 10 on a jumper by Foster with 16:24 remaining in the game.  The Cavaliers were able to stretch the lead out over the remainder of the game taking its largest lead at the 2:46 mark on a layup by Josh Henninger, 95-61. 

Jesse Hardin led Walsh with 20 points, while Chall Montgomery added 16 and Hrvoje Vucic had 14.

Northern Michigan was 24-54 (44.4 percent) from the floor and went 18-25 (72 percent) from the free throw line. 

The Wildcats return to action on Saturday against Malone. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. at the Barry Events Center.