Men's Basketball Defeats Northern Michigan 81-66

MIDLAND, MICH. – The Northwood University men's basketball team picked up an important 81-66 win over Northern Michigan Saturday afternoon (February 21).

Northwood is now 14-13 overall, 10-11 in the GLIAC. Northern Michigan stands at 9-18 overall, 7-14 in the GLIAC.

Northern Michigan opened up an early five point lead, but Northwood finished the half strong to open up a lead at the break. NU went on a 15-3 run to end the half to take a 45-30 lead at the break. NU's offense was efficient in the opening 20 minutes, shooting 65.5 percent from the floor (19-29) and 57.1 percent from 3-point range (4-7). NMU shot 45.8 percent (11-24) from the floor.

Northwood maintained control throughout the second half, as the Wildcats got no closer than 12 points after the break. NU cooled a bit from the floor but still shot 46.2 percent from the floor (12-26) while NMU ended up at 44.4 percent (12-27).

For the game, Northwood finished at 56.4 percent from the floor (31-55) while Northern Michigan ended up at 45.1 percent (23-51). Both teams shot well from the foul line – NU ended up 14-16 overall (87.5 percent) while NMU connected on all 14 of their attempts.

The story of the game proved to be the performance of senior Will Bowles (East Detroit, Mich./South Lake). He scored a career-high 36 points, going 14-16 from the floor and 8-8 from the foul line. Jermaine Myers (Ajax, Ont./Fordham) and Khalid King (Columbus, Ohio/North Carolina A&T) added 11 and 10 respectively.

Northwood will try to earn a spot in the GLIAC Tournament Thursday night (February 26) when they host Lake Superior State. Game time is set for 8 p.m.