UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – Junior guard Ethan Blackwell connected on a three-pointer with three seconds remaining in the game, but the Northern Michigan University men's basketball team fell just short at Saginaw Valley State 56-55 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference action Thursday.

NMU fell to 4-11 overall with a 3-8 GLIAC record. Saginaw Valley improved to 6-9 overall with a 2-9 league mark.

Junior forward Chavis Mattison led the Wildcats with his second-straight double-double scoring 17 points and 12 rebounds. Blackwell added 14 for NMU.

The Wildcats jumped out to a 9-0 lead when Mattison hit a three-pointer with 16:06 left in the first half. The Cardinals came back and took a 34-33 lead at the break.

The game stayed within two possessions through the second half in a game that saw three ties and 11 lead changes.

A jumper by junior Larry Taylor gave NMU a 49-48 lead with 4:49 left in the contest. Saginaw Valley retook the lead on a three-pointer from Sterling Johnson with 4:00 left in the game and never relinquished it.

"We came out of the gate all right tonight, but it was just one of those things where you have to learn to win on the road and we made too many mental errors tonight," said NMU head coach Bill Sall. "We had a number of really good looks in the second half and unfortunately we didn't get those to fall and it cost us in the end. It's a disappointing loss and hopefully we learn from it and move on."

The Cardinals took advantage of 16 trips to the charity stripe, connecting on 10 of their free throw attempts. NMU was 2-4 from the free throw line.

The Wildcats shot 41.4 percent from the floor connecting on 23-55 attempts. SVSU connected on 19-42 from the floor for a 45.2 field goal percentage.

NMU outrebounded Saginaw Valley State 35-24 and scored 10 second-chance points to the Cardinals three.

Garrett Hall led the Cardinals with 19 points followed by Damon Bozeman who had 17.

The Wildcats return to action at Wayne State at 3 p.m. Saturday.