ALLENDALE, Mich. — The Northern Michigan men's basketball team was downed by Grand Valley State, 83-63, Thursday evening at Fieldhouse Arena.

Naba Echols returned to the lineup and wasted no time getting on the stat sheet, hitting a three pointer on the Wildcats' first possession. The Lakers rattled off five-straight points to pull ahead, 7-3, with 17:57 to play, but Northern Michigan responded when Echols found Marcus Hall on the perimeter for a three-pointer to tie the game at seven with 16:01 remaining in the half.

Later in the half, Hall buried two free throws to give the Wildcats a 12-11 lead with 13:37 to play. The Lakers answered with a five-point run to pull ahead 16-12. Kenny Williams ended the run, with his jump shot cutting the lead to two with 11:33 on the clock.

But Grand Valley State put together an eight-point run to open up a 28-17 lead with 6:20 remaining in the half, and the Wildcats ultimately went into the intermission down, 44-23.

Early in the second half, Northern Michigan went on an 8-2 run, highlighted by Echols hitting a three-pointer and drawing a foul to cap off the four-point play. Following the run, Northern Michigan trailed 52-35 with 16:11 remaining. The second half was all Lakers from that point forward, and they grew their lead to 78-46 by the 6:22 mark.

Williams lead the Wildcats with a career-high 18 points while Echols contributed 14.

With the loss, the Wildcats move to 4-9 (2-7 GLIAC) on the season. They return to action against Ferris State Saturday at 3 p.m.