UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team defeated Northern Michigan University tonight (Jan. 12), 67-60. The Cardinals improve to 6-7 overall and 3-4 in the conference with the win, while the Wildcats drop to 6-8 on the season and 2-5 in the GLIAC.

After the Cardinals found themselves in an early hole, Eli Redman (Bath, Mich.) dropped in buckets on back-to-back possessions to bring SVSU within four, 14-10 at the 14:09 mark of the first half. 

Saginaw Valley would again cut the Wildcat lead to four, 21-17, when Meijer "Player of the Game" Mike Schaaf (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill HS) knocked down a triple with 10:55 left in the half. He finished the contest with 21 points and six rebounds on 8-of-14 shooting from the field including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Brett Beland (Menominee, Mich.) gave the Cardinals their first lead of the evening with 4:19 to go in the first half as he spun to the hoop for two and the 28-27 edge. 

Greg Foster (Indianapolis, Ind./T.C. Howe HS) capped an 11-0 SVSU run with two free throws to give SVSU a 32-27 advantage with 1:21 remaining in the half. The Cardinals would take a slim 32-29 lead into the locker room. Foster finished the night with 11 points, 11 assists and six rebounds.

Northern Michigan would go on a run and take the lead before Schaaf dropped in three pointers on consecutive possessions to give SVSU a 47-44 advantage with less than ten minutes remaining in regulation.

George Goodman (Saginaw, Mich./Buena Vista HS) gave the Cardinals a 55-46 lead when he connected on his second triple of the contest at the 7:16 mark of the second half. 

Schaaf would continue his hot shooting as he knocked down another triple and followed it up with a jumper to give SVSU their largest lead of the night, 60-48, with 5:50 to go.

However, the Wildcats responded with a 12-4 run to cut the Cardinal lead to 64-60 with 2:21 left in the contest. 

With the shot clock winding down, Foster grabbed the loose ball and capitalized on the second-chance opportunity giving SVSU the 67-60 victory.

The Cardinals were sharp from the charity stripe going 14-of-16. SVSU outscored the Wildcat bench, 35-0.

Saginaw Valley continue their conference schedule this Saturday (Jan. 14) at home against Michigan Tech at 3:00 PM.