Men's Basketball Defeats Rival Saginaw Valley 94-84

MIDLAND, MICH. – The Northwood University men's basketball team picked up a big 94-84 win over rival Saginaw Valley State Saturday evening (January 16).

Northwood improves to 10-6 overall, 6-4 in the GLIAC. Saginaw Valley, which entered play tonight on top of the league, falls to 12-4 overall, 8-2 in the GLIAC.

The Cardinals led by three points early on, but the Timberwolves controlled the play in the final moments of the opening half. A 3-pointer by senior guard Maurice Jones (Saginaw, Mich../Arthur Hill gave Northwood its biggest lead of the half, 43-33. NU out-rebounded the Cardinals 26-13 in the opening 20 minutes

The second half was much of the same for the first ten minutes. Northwood led by as much as 18 at the 8:55 mark, getting contributions from all across the board. SVSU continued to fight, getting the lead down to as little seven. Northwood finished the game strong, however, making eight straight free throws at one point to close out the win.

For the game, Northwood shot 53.6 percent overall (30-56), which included a 60.0 percent mark in the second half (15-25). SVSU ended up at 41.7 percent (25-60). NU did a better job at the foul line, going 25-31 (80.6%) compared to the Cardinals at 23-33 (69.7 percent). Northwood also won the battle of the boards 42-30.

Jones led the way with his best game at Northwood, scoring a career-high 39 points. He went 11-20 from the floor, 2-5 from 3-point range and 15-15 from the foul line. He also added six assists and five rebounds. Dylan Langkabel (Morristown, Ind.) added 18 points.

Northwood will host Ferris State University Thursday night (January 21). Game time is set for 8 p.m.