Men's Basketball Rallies for 91-88 Overtime Win At Walsh

The Northwood University men's basketball team claimed a dramatic 91-88 overtime win over Walsh Thursday night (December 12).

Northwood has now won six straight games to improve to 7-2 overall, 3-0 in the GLIAC. Walsh drops their first game of the year, falling to 5-1 overall, 2-1 in the GLIAC.

After the score was tied 2-2 early on, Walsh led the remaining of the first half.  The Cavaliers led by as many as 14 points before settling for a 41-29 lead at halftime. Walsh held advantages in pretty much every category, including the 3-point line.  WU finished 4-10 from beyond the arc (40.0 percent) while the Timberwolves made just one of 11 attempts (9.1 percent).

The Cavaliers extended their lead early in the second half, going up 53-34 at the first media timeout with under 15 minutes remaining in the game. The Timberwolves rallied back to cut the lead to 69-66 with 4:35 remaining, but Walsh scored five straight points to make the score 74-66 with under three minutes to go. NU still was down 76-70 with 40 seconds remaining when the Timberwolves connected on a pair of huge 3-point field goals, one by Wes Wilcox (Roselle, Ill./Harper) and one by Khalid King (Columbus, Ohio/North Carolina A&T) to cut lead to 78-76 with 26 seconds remaining. Northwood then forced a Walsh turnover, which was followed by a Darvin Ham (Saginaw, Mich./Bridgeport) layup to tie the game and force overtime.  The tie was the first in the game since the score was 2-2.

The overtime period went back and forth over the first three minutes, with both teams earning the lead. But Northwood scored six straight points to take a two point deficit and turn it into a four point lead. Walsh trailed by three in the final seconds and got off a 3-point attempt, but it was no good, capping a dramatic comeback win.

Northwood's 3-point shooting in the second half and overtime proved to be the key to the comeback. After going 1-11 from 3-point range in the first half, the Timberwolves connected on 11-19 shots from beyond the arc after the break.

For the game, Northwood shot 44.0 percent (33-75), while Walsh finished at 42.7 percent (32-75). NU connected on two more 3-pointers (12-10) while WU made one more free throw (14-13).

Wilcox and Ham each finished with career-highs in points. Wilcox had 31 points in the game, 27 of which came in the second half and overtime. He also added 12 rebounds for his fifth career double-double. Ham finished with 25 points, going 9-12 from the floor and 4-6 from the foul line. He also added eight rebounds and three assists.

Northwood will travel to Malone Saturday (December 14). Game time is set for 3 p.m.