MARQUETTE, Mich - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team was on the road at Northern Michigan University Thursday (Feb. 13) to take on the Wildcats in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) contest. SVSU used a career night from freshman forward C.J. Turnage to defeat NMU by a score of 61-50, notching its second-straight victory.

The Cardinals began the game with two layups within the first two minutes of the game to give them a 4-0 lead, a lead they would hold until the 5:44 mark of the first half. 

With 4:05 left to play in the opening frame, Northern Michigan held a 25-20 lead. 

A Turnage three point play tied the game at 25 points- apiece. Turnage struck again with a key layup that gave the Cardinals a 27-25 point lead going into halftime.

SVSU shot 50% from the field (11-22) while NMU made good on 37.9% (11-29) of its field goals in the opening 20 minutes.

The second half started off with a Wildcat three, giving them a one point lead. Wade Gelhaus re-gained the lead for SVSU on the next posession, giving it a 29-28 lead. The lead changed again on a Marcus Hall jumper at the 17:43 mark. 

A Damon Bozeman layup gave the Cardinals a one point lead with 16:45 remaining. The Cardinals would only increase their lead from there on their way to the 61-50 victory.

Saginaw Valley out-shot Northern Michigan 48.9% (22-45) to 39.6% (21-53) in the contest. The Cardinals also won the battle on the boards, 36-23.

Turnage was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" after scoring a career-high 27 points, grabbing six rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.  Bozeman notched six points and a game-high eight rebounds.

With the win, Saginaw Valley improves to 9-12 overall and 5-12 in the GLIAC while Northern Michigan drops to 4-18 on the year and 3-15 in the conference. 

The Cardinals continue their road trip on Saturday (Feb. 15), as they take on Michigan Tech in a GLIAC matchup. Tip-off is set for 3:00 pm in Houghton, Mich.