WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. – The Northern Michigan men's basketball team picked up a big regional win on Friday afternoon, defeating the Missouri-St. Louis Tritons 64-60 at the Justagame Fieldhouse.
The Wildcats trailed 12-0 out of the gates, but found their footing, scoring the next 10 and carrying a 27-23 lead into halftime. The Tritons pushed their lead back to seven in the second half, but NMU stayed composed, regaining the edge with just over five minutes left and coming up with key plays down the stretch to secure the win.
"Resilient is a great way to describe the game," said
Keil Ganz. "We did a great job staying with it and grinding out possession after possession. I love the way we battled, and we had great guys step up and make big plays."
Brooks Hinson led the way for the Green and Gold with 21 points and eight rebounds, shooting 7-14 from the floor.
Pryce Gregoire followed with 14 points. Off the bench,
Caden Gustafson provided 11 points and five assists,
Ross Robertson added seven, and
George Bellevue added six, including a key floater with under a minute to play. UMSL's Miles Boland led all players with 24 points.
Neither side shot particularly well, with NMU going 23-for-54 (42.6%) to UMSL's 20-for-50 (40.0%). NMU committed just nine turnovers and outscored the Tritons 13-2 in points off turnovers.
How it Happened
UMSL came out firing, knocking down its first four shots to open the game with a 12-0 run. Northern got on the board at the free-throw line at the 15:26 mark before finding a spark from its bench. The Wildcats responded with a 10-0 run of their own, while holding UMSL without a field goal for nearly nine minutes.
In a low-scoring first half,
Pryce Gregoire knocked a three late in the half to help Northern take a 27-23 lead into the break.
Caden Gustafson also provided a boost off the bench, scoring eight points to help fuel the Wildcat comeback.
UMSL briefly regained the lead with the first five points of the second half, but Northern stayed within striking distance. Another 7-0 Triton run put UMSL ahead 41-34 with 12 minutes remaining. The Wildcats continued to chip away, with Gustafson connecting on a big three-pointer to tie the game at 48-48 with six minutes to play.
Gregoire and
Brooks Hinson answered with back-to-back three-pointers, giving Northern a five-point lead with five minutes remaining. The Wildcats held a 60-57 lead before
George Bellevue delivered a big floater with just under a minute to play, pushing the lead back to five at 62-57.
UMSL missed a three-pointer down the stretch, and Hinson calmly knocked down two free throws to seal the 64-60 Northern victory.
Up Next
The Wildcats are back at the Justagame Fieldhouse tomorrow, taking on Winona State at 2 p.m. ET.
