MARQUETTE, Mich. - At 9 p.m. on a Thursday night, the bank remained open, as
Max Weisbrod stepped into a shot from the top of the key and banked in a jumper right as the final horn sounded for a remarkable 72-71 victory for the Northern Michigan men's basketball squad over Lake Superior State.
The Wildcats, who found themselves down much of the night, were trailing 70-62 with less than two minutes to play. With ice in his veins, Weisbrod hit two triples to even the score at 70's. LSSU earned a trip to the free throw line with three seconds left, converting on one to take the lead. The 'Cats then advanced the ball to halfcourt and coach Majkrzak drew up a play for the hot hand and Weisbrod delivered, as the Wildcats stole a big GLIAC victory at home to improve to 5-0 in the conference, 12-5 overall, and extend the winning streak to eight games.
Weisbrod paced the way on the night, scoring 25 points on 9-14 shooting, including a 6-9 downtown mark. Teammate
Dylan Kuehlwas not far behind, adding 22 points.
On a night where the Wildcats failed to grab an offensive rebound, getting edged 9-0 in the category and 6-0 in second chance points, they found a way. Along with Makaylee Kuhn setting the all-time scoring record for the women in the game before, it sure made for an exciting night of hoops in Marquette.
How it Happened
LSSU'S Marcus Soper opened the scoring from deep and
Sam Schultz countered to get the Wildcats on the board. The Lakers scored seven of the first nine to gain an early edge on the road. Five minutes into this one, the 'Cats punched back with an 8-0 run to grab its first lead of the night at 12-10 with 13:50 to go.
The next six went to the Lakers as the lead continued to flip. With over half of the first stanza passed,
Carson Smith and
Riley Brooks connected on back-to-back triples to regain the lead for the Green and Gold, 23-21, with eight minutes left.
The sides went blow-for-blow the rest of the half until the Lakers, trailing by three with under three minutes to go, scored the final six of the half to take a slight 35-32 lead into the locker room.
It was a fast paced first half, as there were six lead changes. The Lakers outrebounded the Wildcats offensively 7-0, controlling the margin on second chance points. The Lakers also had their way down low, scoring 26 of their 35 points in the paint while NMU managed just 12.
Max Weisbrod led the Cats' offensive in the first 20 minutes scoring 12 points, shooting 3-5 from deep.
The second half started rocky for the Cats' as they quickly found themselves on the wrong end of a 7-0 run by the Lakers, trailing by ten just minutes into the second half.
Kuehl converted from deep as part of an 8-2 NMU run to pull back within four nearing 13 minutes remaining. The 'Cats found buckets at times, but couldn't seem to string together stops as the deficit remained with the minutes ticking away.
With 6:34 left, LSSU went back ahead by double digits and seemed to have all the momentum on their side. The 'Cats got the next five, but LSSU once again answered to maintain a multiple possession lead late in the contest.
Trailing 70-62 with less than two minutes remaining, Weisbrod connected not once, but twice from deep to bring the Cats' all the way back to an even score at 70-70 with just 34 ticks remaining on the clock.
With just over a couple of seconds difference between the shot clock and game clock, LSSU missed a three with five seconds left, but Hunter Soper pulled down an offensive rebound and was fouled on his putback attempt, sending him to the line. After a split at the charity stripe, NMU still had a chance. The 'Cats advanced the ball to halfcourt quickly and opted for the final timeout, drawing up a play with two seconds to go. The rest is history, as Weisbrod's clutch buzzer beater stunned the Lakers and gave NMU a crucial conference win.
Up Next
The Wildcats return to the Berry Events Center on Saturday at 3 p.m. as they will clash with No. 12 Ferris State for another massive tilt at the top of the conference leaderboard.
