ALLENDALE, Mich. - The Northern Michigan men's basketball team scored seven straight points with less than two minutes left to emerge victorious, 63-61, in a nailbiter at Grand Valley State on Saturday. The win marks the seventh straight for the Wildcats. 

Trailing 58-56 with 1:45 left and running out of shot clock, Max Weisbrod stepped into a no-doubt triple to go ahead. Carson Smith would follow with two perfect trips at the charity stripe to will the Green and Gold to victory. 

Northern trailed 35-27 at halftime, but outscored the Lakers 36-26 in the second half while holding them to a 7-26 (26.9%) shooting clip. The 'Cats shot 12-28 (42.9%) themselves. GV committed four more turnovers in the second half, leading to NMU having an 11-4 edge in points off turnovers.

Dylan Kuehl led the way with 16 points while Smith contributed another 15. Sam Schultz also found double figures with 10 points to go along with eight rebounds. 

The seventh straight victory leaves the Wildcats the last unbeaten in the conference, as its 4-0 GLIAC record has them alone atop the standings. NMU is 11-5 on the season. The win halted a near four-year stretch that the 'Cats claimed victory in Allendale. 


How It Happened
It was a slow-paced start on Saturday in Allendale. The Lakers went on an 11-0 run as the first half crossed the halfway point and gained a double-digit advantage at 22-12. Grand Valley earned trips to the charity stripe four different times on the run for six of the 10 points. After the 12:35 mark, Northern missed its next six shots, but halted the GVSU spurt with a Dylan Kuehl dunk.

The Wildcats continued to trail by ten with seven minutes and change left in the opening half before they mustered a 6-0 run of their own over the next couple of minutes to pull within four. A pair of jumpers from the home team before the halftime horn gave NMU a 35-27 deficit at the break. 

Dylan Kuehl was the lone player in double figures in the first half with 10 points. A big difference came at the free-throw line, where GVSU was 8-9 to NMU's 1-4 clip.  

Just over four minutes into the second half, GV's Britain Harris pick-pocketed the 'Cats and flushed home a fast break dunk to jump ahead by 11 on NMU, 45-34. That seemed to wake up the Green and Gold, as a 9-0 run with five points from Riley Brooks pulled the game back to one possession with 10 minutes remaining. It was the first time since 11:14 of the first half that the Wildcats were within a score.

 The run extended to 11-0 as NMU tied the game at 45's with nine minutes left. GV went back ahead at the charity stripe, but the Northern defense held the home team empty for a 6:43 stretch to get back into the game.

Back-to-back physical baskets from Kuehl gave Northern its first lead of the game since they led 10-9 at 13:40 of the first half. That led to a GVSU timeout, with the 'Cats slightly in front 49-47 with 7:53 to play. GV's three-pointer out of the timeout at 7:29 ended a 8:13 period without a field goal. 

The top two teams in the conference played tightly contested the rest of the way. With the shot clocking winding down with 1:45 to play, Max Weisbrod stepped into a no-doubt triple for a 59-58 lead. From there, Carson Smith was 4-4 from the free throw line to go ahead by five.

GVSU pulled down an offensive rebound and hit a three with 0:36 to go to make it a two-point game. NMU came up empty on its trip, but GV's halfcourt heave at the horn fell short as the Wildcats pulled out a nailbiter, 63-61. 


Up Next
The 'Cats return home, squaring off against Lake Superior State and Ferris State on January 11 and 13.