NORTH CANTON, Ohio - The Northern Michigan men's basketball team fell to the Walsh Cavaliers in the second round of the DII NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

"[Walsh's] second group's energy got us, and they took advantage of us," said NMU Head Coach Matt Majkrzak. "They made more tough shots and some of that is executing what they wanted to do better than us executing what we wanted to do."

GLIAC and Midwest Region Player of the Year, Dylan Kuehl, led the  way offensively for the Wildcats with 19 points on the day, concluding his historic career second in program history in scoring, just 27 points shy of the record that has been held by Bill Harris since 1987. Meanwhile, Bennett Basich and Cal Klesmit also scored double figures with 15 and 10 points, respectively, and senior Jackson Dudek notched seven points and eight rebounds.

"This is my favorite team I've ever coached, by far," said Majkrzak. "You'll never find a group that likes each other more and is more connected and they were everything right with college sports."

How it happened
Both teams came out firing to start the game, including multiple early threes from Cal Klesmit, one of which he stopped and popped in transition after picking off a pass on defense, but the Cavaliers always seemed to have an answer, never allowing the Wildcats to gain an edge. Walsh would eventually pull ahead with a 9-0 run to claim a 17-9 advantage before Bennett Basich went coast to coast for a bucket inside. Charlie Miller would then get into the action with a three-ball of his own from near NBA range, but the Cavaliers once again responded, this time in the form of an 8-0 run before Dylan Kuehl threw down a monster jam in the paint. Trevor Polite and Jackson Dudek were able to earn a pair of and-one opportunities to trim the lead back down, but Walsh was able to hit another three with a mere eight seconds remaining in the half to send the Wildcats into the break trailing 39-29.

Basich opened up the scoring to start the second half, but the Cavaliers answered with a pair of threes. NMU continued to battle throughout the second half with Basich proving to be a spark on offense, getting inside for a turnaround jumper before pulling up for three on the next possession, but Walsh continued to answer every attack with tough shot after tough shot. The Wildcats kept fighting with several buckets from Kuehl inside, but it would ultimately not be enough as the Cavaliers were able to close out the game with contested threes and free throws to defeat NMU by a margin of 86-68, bringing the Wildcats' outstanding season to a close. 

The Wildcats season will finish with a 28-7 record, a new school record for wins in a season on the heel of an outstanding four-year stretch for the program that has won a GLIAC championship and reached the NCAA Tournament in each of the past four seasons. 

"Northern Michigan basketball is now a brand and it's as good of a brand as any. I am really proud of that," said Majkrzak. "This group ending the way they did with 28 wins, breaking the school record, put a great final stamp on Northern Michigan basketball."