SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – Northern Michigan University men's basketball hung tight with No. 19 Lake Superior State in the first half, but the Lakers were able to pull away in the second half leading to a 71-55 final in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.  The Wildcats shot 20-49 (.408) from the field with 10-22 (.455) coming from beyond the arc, while the Lakers went 28-45 (.622) from the field with 10-17 (.588) shooting from behind the three-point line.

NMU drops to 9-17 on the season with a 7-13 conference record, while LSSU moves to 22-4 with a 17-3 GLIAC record.

Lake Superior State opened the game scoring the first 11 points to take an early advantage.  A jumper from freshman guard Jordan Perez cut the lead to five at 28-23 with 4:09 remaining in the half but this would be as close as the Wildcats would manage before the halftime score settled at 35-29 LSSU.

Sophomore guard Marcus Hall led the Wildcats in scoring for the opening half with 11 points going 4-9 (.444) from the field and 3-7 (.429) from the three-point line.

Perez would connect on a three-point basket to cap a quick 9-3 run to open the half for NMU that brought the score to 39-38 LSSU with 15:58 to play.  The Lakers were able to build a comfortable lead later in the half with an 8-2 run to bring the score to 58-48 with 6:14 remaining in the game.  The Lakers were able to ride out the remainder of the game to a 71-55 final score.

Hall finished the game leading the Wildcats with 15 points with Perez finishing in double-figures at 14.  Freshman forward Kenny Williams led the team down low with six boards, three of which were on the offensive end.

The Lakers were able to score 22 points off of 13 NMU turnovers, while the Wildcats only could manage eight points after forcing 12 turnovers.

Northern Michigan finishes the weekend Saturday, Feb. 21 at 3 p.m. when they travel to Northwood.