BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – Freshman guard Marcus Hall led the Wildcats with a game-high 18 points as the Northern Michigan University men's basketball team lost 74-65 to Ferris State in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference action Saturday.   

NMU moves to 4-16 overall with a 3-13 GLIAC mark. The Bulldogs improved to 6-13 overall with a 5-10 league record.

Junior forwards Chavis Mattison and Justin Newell added 12 and 11 points, respectively to round out the double-digit scorers for NMU.

The Wildcats trailed 31-25 at the break as Hall led NMU with eight first-half points. Northern shot 36-percent from the floor in the first half connecting on 9-25 of their field goal attempts and went 5-9 (55.6-percent) from three-point range.

A three-pointer by Newell with 14:43 left in the first half gave the Wildcats a 7-4 lead and a three-pointer by Hall with 10:48 to go in the first tied the game at 12-12. 

Ferris State then used an 8-1 run to take a 20-13 lead over the Wildcats when Drew Lehman hit a jumper with 5:19 remaining in the first stanza.

A three-pointer by Hall with 17:38 left in the game moved NMU to within three points, 33-30, but Ferris was able to stretch the lead out to double-digits when Josh Fleming converted a jumper with 13:09 left in the contest. 

Ferris State edged the Wildcats in the battle of the boards outrebounding NMU 27-26 in the contest and outscored Northern 30-16 in the paint.

The Wildcats shot 40.4-percent from the floor connecting on 21-52 from the field. The Bulldogs went 26-45 from the floor for a 57.8 field goal percentage. NMU was also 8-19 from three-point range (42.1%) and 15-19 from the free throw line (78.9%). 

Lehman led four Ferris State players in double-digit scoring with 18. Dietrich Lever added 17 while Fleming had 16 and Raymoan McAfee added 11.

Northern Michigan returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Thursday (Feb. 13) hosting Saginaw Valley State at the Berry Events Center.