MARQUETTE, Mich. - In its final non-conference game ahead of GLIAC play next week, the Northern Michigan men's basketball team pounced on Viterbo (La Crosse, WI) for a commanding 86-61 victory. 

It was solid contributions all around for the Green and Gold. Brian Parzych orchestrated the offense, hauling in 9 assists. Sam Schultz continued to dominate the glass, grabbing eight rebounds on the night, helping NMU to a 37-21 margin on the glass. The ten offensive rebounds led to 21 second chance points. 

Dylan Kuehl led the way for the Cats' offense scoring 20 points on a very efficient 8-9 shooting, with eight of those points coming from dunks. Riley Brooks contributed with 18 points, shooting an efficient 4-6 (66.7%) from downtown. Brian Parzych fell an assist shy of a double-double, recording 13 points with nine helpers. 

As a squad, the 'Cats shot over 50% each half and 53.4% (31-58) on the night. Viterbo went 22-53 (41.5%) from the floor. NMU looked good at the charity stripe, going 15-19 (78.9%). 

NMU stops a two-game skid and improves to 5-5 with the victory, while the V-Hawks fell to 5-5.


How it Happened
The V-Hawks turned heads in the first couple of minutes, opening the contest with the first five. NMU got on the board just over two minutes in on a nice give-and-go between Sam Schultz and Brian Parzych. NMU continued to have success by attacking the paint, with each of its next five buckets coming down low, leading to their first lead at 12-11 with 12:49 on the first half clock. 

Two triples from Riley Brooks triple capped off of a 13-0 spurt for Northern over a 3+ minute stretch, quickly extending the Wildcat lead to double digits at 21-11 nearing the halfway point of the opening 20 minutes. 

NMU carried a 45-23 lead to the locker room. In total, the 'Cats ended the first half scoring 37 of the last 49 points, holding Viterbo to just a dozen points in nearly 14 minutes of action. The Green and Gold heavily controlled the paint, pulling down 19 rebounds to just nine from the opposition. NMU dropped 24 points at the rim to just 10 from the V-Hawks. All eight Wildcats that took to the court in the first half got into the scoring column and pulled down a rebound. 

A Dylan Kuehl alley-oop slam got the crowd right back into it early in the second half, but Viterbo answered with nine of the next ten, leading to an NMU timeout, leading 50-32 just over three minutes into the second. It paid dividends, as the Parzych-to-Kuehl duo connected again out of the timeout, energizing the Wildcat faithful for the second time before the first media stoppage.  

Despite several attempts to flush the game away, Viterbo hung tough. The V-Hawks found success attacking NMU at the rim and getting to the free throw line. As the clock ticked under 10 minutes, Brooks connected on his fourth from downtown, corner pocket variety, to lead the way with 18 points. 

With the clock winding down, Northern rattled off a 9-0 run to go ahead 86-57 with less than two minutes left, its largest lead of the night. 


Up Next
The Green and Gold will start GLIAC play next week at home as Wayne State will visit on Thursday, December 7 followed by Saginaw Valley State on Saturday, December 9.