UNIVERSITY CENTER -- The Cardinal Men's Basketball team hosted the Northern Michigan University Wildcats on Saturday to round-out the opening weekend of GLIAC action. After a low scoring first half that saw NMU lead 28-23, the Wildcats posted a 39-36 edge in the final 20 minutes to secure the 67-59 victory.
Northern Michigan improves to 6-1 overall on the season and 1-1 in the GLIAC while the Cardinals fall to 2-5 and 0-2 in league play.
After a quick lead for the visitors, SVSU scored six straight points after a three-point play by Fred John Jr. and a triple by Darnell Hoskins Jr. to take a 6-2 lead at the 18:38 marker. That would be the Cardinals' largest lead of the afternoon.
The Cards held a 21-19 lead with just under eight minutes left in the half when Myles Belyeu hit a jumper. From there, the contest was tied for the sixth time at 21-21 with 4:02 showing before the Wildcats worked their way out to a 28-23 lead heading into the halftime break.
Northern Michigan continued to lead from there, opening up an advantage as much as 13 points with the score 57-44 as there was 6:25 to go.
SVSU got back within six points twice, the second coming with 32 ticks left when John made good on a layup to put the score at 61-55.
It was not enough, however, as SVSU was forced to foul and NMU connected on six straight free throws down the stretch to seal the 67-59 win.
Inside the Boxscore
- The Wildcats posted a 26-14 edge in scoring in the paint.
- SVSU committed 21 turnovers compared to NMU's eight.
- SVSU shot 42.2% to Northern's 37.3%.
- John was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" after his team-high 16 points. He added four rebounds and a pair of assists.
- CJ Wilson had 11 points to go along with a pair of boards.
- Belyeu grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and scored eight points.
- James Toohey had eight points and eight boards with a pair of helpers.
- Hoskins added nine points with three rebounds.
Up Next...
Saginaw Valley hits the road next weekend for a pair of GLIAC contests, beginning Thursday (Dec. 6) at Lake Superior State University. Tip-off will be roughly 7:30 p.m., following the women's game. Follow the action live at www.svsucardinals.com.
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