UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team played host to Northwood University tonight (Feb. 27) on Senior Night in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) matchup. The Timberwolves came out of the battle victorious in the final seconds by a final score of 86-84.
With the loss, SVSU falls to 9-16 overall and 5-16 in the GLIAC while NU improves to 18-12 on the year and 14-8 in conference play.
The game started off with back and forth action as a layup by C.J. Turnage knotted the contest at 6 points-apiece after three minutes of action.
However, the Timberwolves broke the game open over the next eight minutes by outscoring the Cardinals 26-13, knocking down six triples during that span to go up 32-19 with 8:50 remaining in the opening half.
SVSU responded as back-to-back three-pointers by Damon Bozeman capped 10 consecutive points scored by the sophomore to draw the Cardinals to within 34-25 with 7:44 to go in the half.
NU extended the lead to 14 points before Garrett Hall scored seven of the final 10 points of the half for SVSU, capped by a triple with two seconds left to take the Cardinals into the intermission trailing 48-40.
For the half, Saginaw Valley shot 38 percent (12-for-31) from the floor and 26 percent (4-for-15) from behind the arc compared to Northwood's 66 percent (20-for-30) from the floor and 54 percent (6-for-11) from three-point range.
The Cardinals were led in the first half by Bozeman's 14 points, followed by 11 points from Hall. Turnage chipped-in with nine points on 3-for-4 shooting from the floor.
The second half opened with both teams trading baskets. The back-and-forth action continued through the midway point of the second half when a made free throw shot by Bozeman cut the Cardinal deficit to seven points at 73-67.
Northwood led by eight points at 82-74 with 6:14 to play before Saginaw Valley mounted a comeback with strong defense and solid paint play.
The Cardinals defense caused six missed shots and two turnovers while the offense scored three layups and had a tip-in during a key 8-2 run in the final six minutes. Saginaw Valley pulled even at 84-84 with 40 seconds left in the game after a pair of free throws by Hall.
After a 30 second timeout to setup its final possession, Northwood worked the ball down low and made a layup to go up 86-84 with seven seconds on the clock.
On the ensuing possession, Bozeman drove the length of the court for the Cardinals and missed a contested 10-footer as time expired.
For the game, Saginaw Valley was led in scoring by Turnage, who matched a career-high with 27 points while garnering Meijer "Player of the Game' honors. Bozeman finished the contest with 25 points and Hall rounded out the scoring leaders with 17 points. Both Turnage and Bozeman had a team-high 6 rebounds.
SVSU shot 42 percent (27-for-64) from the floor and 29 percent (7-for-24) from beyond the arc for the game, while NU completed 54 percent (33-for-61) of their field goals and 45 percent (10-for-22) from three-point range.
The Cardinals return to action for their final game of the season this Saturday (Mar. 1) on the road against Ferris St. with tipoff scheduled for 3:00 PM in Big Rapids.