UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. — The Northern Michigan men's basketball team fell short of upsetting No. 15 Saginaw Valley State ,67-66, Thursday evening at James E. O'Neill Jr. Arena.

Northern Michigan got off to a fast start opening up a 12-6 lead after Terry Nash found Donnell Cegers in the paint for the layup at the 14:32 mark. The Cardinals knocked down a jump shot adn layup  to cut the lead to two, 12-10.

Later in the half, the Wildcat offense strung together a 10-6 run to grow their lead to nine, 25-16, after a Cegers layup. CJ Turnage ended the run for the Cardinals cutting the lead to seven, 25-18. Northern Michigan continued to build their lead with an 8-0 run in which Cegers scored four of the eight points. The Wildcats held a 33-18 edge with 3:49 to play in the half.

Saginaw Valley State knocked down a layup and tip in to cut the deficit to 11, 33-22. Northern Michigan closed the half on an 8-2 run highlighted by a Cegers layup with 40 seconds remaining in the half. The Wildcats took a 41-24 lead into the locker room.

The teams traded points to open the half until a Cegers jumpshot gave the Wildcats a 17 point lead, 47-30, with 17:44 to play.  Saginaw Valley State found offense on an 11-1 run to cut the lead to seven, 48-41. Jordan Perez picked the pocket of Wade Gelhaus to find Nash in transition for the layup to end the run.

The Cardinals continued to battle back cutting the lead to one, 54-53, after a Vincent Adams layup and free throw at the 9:10 mark. Naba Echols answered on the following possession with a triple to put the lead back to four, 57-53.

Saginaw Valley State took their first lead of the contest, 58-57, following a Garrett Hall jump shot with 6:13 to play.  Cegers stole the lead back for the Wildcats on the following possession with his layup. The Cardinals responded by growing their largest lead of the game, 62-59, with 4:09 remaining.

Northern Michigan fought back to take the lead back following a pair of Echols free throws and a Nash three pointer, 64-62, with 1:39 on the clock. On the next possession, Perez connected with Cegers in the paint for the layup, 66-62, with 54 seconds to play.

Following a Turnage dunk and Saginaw Valley timeout, Hall connected from three to give the Cardinals a one point, 67-66, lead with four seconds remaining.

Cegers posted a game-high 24 points and added five rebounds. Echols netted 15 points while Nash rounded out the top three Wildcats with 14 points.

With the loss, Northern Michigan moves to 6-16 (4-14 GLIAC) on the season. The Wildcats will travel to Hillsdale on Saturday with tip off set for 3 p.m.