HAMMOND, Ind. - Trailing for much of the game, the Northern Michigan men's basketball team rallied back on Saturday at Purdue Northwest, scoring the final 10 points to edge the Pride 76-75 in the regular season finale. 

Finishing at 19-9 overall and 13-7 in the conference, the Wildcats clinched the No. 4 seed for the GLIAC Tournament and will host No. 5 Grand Valley State (16-12, 12-8) on Wednesday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Vandament Arena. GVSU defeated Roosevelt 106-51 on Saturday to cement their spot as the No. 5 seed. 

With just under four minutes left, NMU faced a 75-66 deficit. Dylan Kuehl fueled a 10-0 run to end the game with an and-one. Sam Privet knocked down a pair of free throws and Derek Merwick followed by going 5-6 at the charity stripe to take the lead and secure the win. 

Kuehl led the way with 18 points, going 8-15 from the floor. He also pulled down eight boards to lead the 'Cats. Privet added 11 points and Julien Smith another 10. The Pride were led by 22 from Quinton McCullough. 

Northern shot 28-61 (45.9%) overall and 8-27 (29.6%) from three. The Pride were over 50% from the field, going 29-56. PNW also led in rebounds 35-26, but the 'Cats were able to capitalize on 13 Pride turnovers, converting them for 13 points. 

How it Happened
The action was back-and-forth early on, with Kuehl knocking down a three to lead 7-6 in the early stages. The Pride then went on an 8-0 run to gain a 14-7 lead. After a Cal Klesmit three ended PNW's run, the Pride answered with seven straight, and a 19-5 extended run, to lead 25-12 at 9:30 of the first half. 

Shooting 17-31 (54.8%) in the opening half, Purdue Northwest continued to push, leading by as many as 17 at 40-23. Northern had a 10-0 run in them to get it back to single digits by the time halftime rolled around, still trailing 42-35. NMU shot 14-29 (48.3%) in the half. 

The Northern offense was hot out of halftime, getting two threes from Smith and another from Privet, but the Pride remained poised. A 10-3 PNW run extended their lead back to double digits at the second half's midway point, 65-51. 

Trying to get it back to single digits, a 6-0 spurt cut it to nine with 5:50 left. That's where the deficit hovered all the way until three minutes to go. 

A Kuehl and-one kickstarted exactly what NMU needed, a run to end the game. NMU scored the final 10 points with eight coming at the charity stripe. Merwick scored the final five points of the game and his free throw with under 30 seconds left gave NMU the lead that they would hold on to until the final horn. 

Up Next
The Wildcats will now get ready for the GLIAC Tournament. The quarterfinal round begins on Wednesday, March 5, with NMU hosting Grand Valley State. NMU is 2-0 vs. the Lakers this season.