Men's Basketball Wins Thriller Over Lake Erie 78-77

MIDLAND, MICH. – The Northwood University men's basketball team picked up a dramatic 78-77 win over Lake Erie Sunday afternoon (January 3).

Northwood is now 8-4 overall, 4-2 in the GLIAC. Lake Erie falls to 5-7 overall, 2-4 in the GLIAC.

In the opening half, the score was tied 16-16 when the Storm took their level of play up. Lake Erie scored 16 of the next 19 points to open up a 32-19 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the half. NU chipped away at the lead the rest of the half to cut the advantage down to 38-32 at the break. Lake Erie shot 45.2 percent from the floor (14-31) compared to Northwood at 36.7 percent (11-30). LE also made four more 3-pointers than the Timberwolves (7-3). Northwood stayed close thanks to making four more free throws (7-3) and grabbing eight more offensive rebounds (11-3).

The Storm led 57-44 with just under 12 minutes remaining when Northwood began their comeback. NU scored 28 of the next 36 points to go up 72-65 with 4:25 left in the game. Northwood still led 74-67 with 2:30 remaining, but Lake Erie connected on a 3-pointer and then had a 3-point play to cut the lead to one at 74-73. The score was 78-77 in the final seconds when Lake Erie got off a pair of shots to take the lead but were unable to convert, giving NU the win.

For the game, Northwood finished at 39.7 percent (25-63) from the floor and 33.3 percent from 3-point range (6-18). Lake Erie finished at 45.0 percent (27-60) overall and 44.8 percent (13-29) from the 3-point arc. Northwood won the game with their play inside – the Timberwolves out-rebounded the Storm 50-29, which included a 21-6 edge in offensive rebounds. That allowed the Timberwolves to finish with a 19-8 edge in second chance points for the game.  Northwood also finished with a 22-10 edge on made free throws.

Four Timberwolves finished in double figures, led by Maurice Jones (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill) with 22 points. He also had seven rebounds. PJ Weaver (Dayton, Ohio/Meadowdale) had his best game at Northwood, finishing with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Dylan Langkabel (Morristown, Ind.) and Jermaine Myers (Ajax, Ontario) finished with 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Northwood will travel to Tiffin Thursday (January 7). Game time is set for 8 p.m.