Men's Basketball Reaches GLIAC Championship With 64-53 Win Over Northern Michigan

OVERVIEW – NORTHERN MICHIGAN (GLIAC TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS)

SCORE: #4 Northwood Timberwolves 64, #8 Northern Michigan Wildcats 53

RECORDS: Northwood (18-12), Northern Michigan (13-17)

LOCATION: Riepma Arena – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: Fourth-seeded Northwood men's basketball reaches the GLIAC Tournament Championship for the second time in program history after a 64-53 win over No. 8 Northern Michigan Saturday afternoon (March 7).

FIRST HALF

• The opening half was evenly played, as the largest lead for either team was six points.
• Northwood's biggest lead of the half came with under nine minutes remaining as the Timberwolves went up 19-14.
• NMU responded with 13 of the next 17 points to take a 27-23 edge with 3:24 to go.
• Northern Michigan held its biggest lead of the game at 34-28 before Northwood scored the final four points to make the score 34-32 at the break.
• Both teams shot the ball well on the inside but struggled from the perimeter. Northwood finished the first half at 51.7 percent overall (15-29) but just 1-11 from 3-point range (9.1 percent).
• Northern Michigan was 15-31 overall (48.4 percent) from the floor and 3-14 from beyond the arc (21.4 percent).

SECOND HALF

• Northwood took the lead for good at 37-36 with 16:48 remaining.
• The lead stayed between one and six until the 3:14 mark, when a Danny Kolp jumper made the lead 54-46.
• Northwood's lead was 54-50 when the Timberwolves posted 10 straight points to go up 64-50 on their way to the 64-53 victory.
• Both offenses struggled in the second half – NU was 10-37 overall (27.0 percent) and 3-13 from the 3-point line (23.1 percent).
• Northern Michigan was 6-25 from the floor (24.0 percent) and 2-13 from 3-point range (15.4 percent).
• Offensive rebounding was a big part of the second half – NU had a 12-3 edge in offensive boards. That allowed Northwood to have a 13-1 edge in second chance points in the final 20 minutes.

GAME STATS

• FG PERCENTAGE: Northern Michigan .375 (21-56), Northwood .379 (25-66)
• 3-PT PERCENTAGE: Northern Michigan .185 (5-27), Northwood .167 (4-24)
• FREE THROW PERCENTAGE: Northern Michigan .750 (6-8), Northwood .714 (10-14)
• REBOUNDS: Northern Michigan 30 (Six offensive), Northwood 49 (19 offensive)
• ASSISTS/TURNOVERS: Northern Michigan 13/9, Northwood 12/8
• POINTS IN THE PAINT: Northern Michigan 28, Northwood 38
• POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: Northern Michigan 8, Northwood 11
• SECOND CHANCE POINTS: Northern Michigan 3, Northwood 20

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Try McBride: 11 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three blocks
• Jack Ammerman: 16 points, four rebounds
• Danny Kolp: 10 points, seven rebounds
• Ja'Kavien Lewis: 11 points, six assists, three steals

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• With today's victory, Jeff Rekeweg earned his 400th career win. He has 135 wins at Northwood and 265 victories at Saint Francis (Indiana).
• This will be the second time in school history that Northwood has reached the GLIAC Tournament Final. NU last reached the finals in the 2001-02 season after defeating Ashland and Findlay in the quarterfinals and semifinals. That team lost to Michigan Tech in the finals.

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves will face third-seeded Michigan Tech in the championship game Sunday (March 7) at Grand Valley State. Game time is set for 1 p.m.