NMU men fall to hot shooting Cardinals

MARQUETTE – Northern Michigan University men’s basketball (9-15, 7-11 GLIAC) played their second straight game against a ranked opponent falling to No. 20 Saginaw Valley by a final of 82-72. Senior forward Chavis Mattison recorded his sixth consecutive double-double in the loss with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman guard Jordan Perez scored a game-high 23 points, while freshman forward Alex Sorenson had 12 rebounds in the game.

Saginaw led for the entire opening half extending their lead to as large as 12 at 38-26 with 1:31 remaining in the half. The Wildcats were able to build momentum finishing the half on a 9-2 run capped off by a three-point basket from Sorenson at the buzzer for a 40-35 halftime score.

NMU outscored Saginaw 22-10 in the paint for the half, while SVSU held the advantage in fast break points by a 7-0 margin. Both teams shot the ball well in the half as the Cardinals went 14-28 (.500) with 7-13 (.538) coming from beyond the arc and the Wildcats went 15-34 (.441) from the field.

Mattison opened the game with 16 points and seven rebounds in the first half.

Northern Michigan came out to start the second half well as they opened with an 8-2 run to take their first lead of the game at 43-42 and 17:22 left to play. Saginaw answered with a 12-1 run to retake the lead with a 54-44 score and 14:02 left to play.

Northern Michigan scored the next six points to cut the deficit down to 54-50 and 12:26 remaining, but the fast paced up-tempo offense of the Cardinals took its toll as SVSU was able to pull away late and come away with the 82-72 win.

Saginaw Valley finished the game shooting 29-60 (.483) from the field with 12-24 (.500) from beyond the arc.

The Wildcats were able to finish the game going 30-65 (.462) from the field while outscoring SVSU 44-30 in the paint.

Northern Michigan finishes the weekend hosting Hillsdale at 1 p.m. Saturday, February 14th.

(Information Courtesy of NMU Athletics)