NMU drops final tourney game to MSU

MARSHALL, Minn. — Freshman guard Jordan Perez led the Northern Michigan University men’s basketball team by scoring a game-high 19 points, leading all players as NMU dropped a 78-58 decision in their final matchup at the SW Minnesota Classic against host Southwest Minnesota State, Saturday.

NMU fell to 2-4 overall while Southwest Minnesota improved to 4-2 on the campaign. The outing marked the final regular season nonconference matchup for the Wildcats before opening Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at Walsh on Dec. 4.

Perez went 7-17 from the floor and 3-6 from three point range while connecting on two free throws. Perez was the only NMU player to score in double-digits.

The Wildcats traded blows with the host Mustangs through the first 10-minutes of action including taking the lead on a Perez Layup and a jumper from sophomore guard Marcus Hall.

SWMS was able to stretch its lead to 39-28 after a pair of free throws from Joey Bartlett with 37-seconds left in the half.

Perez led all scorers with 12 first-half points while NMU shot 37-percent from the floor (10-27) and SW Minnesota State shot 38.9-percent in the first half (14-36).

The Mustangs opened the second half with a 13-3 run before a layup from Turner Moen gave SWMS a 69-40 lead with 8:08 left in the game, its largest of the contest.

NMU outscored Southwest Minnesota State 18-9 in the final  7:36 of action to set the final tally at 78-58.

NMU dominated the down low scoring, outscoring the Mustangs 36-24 in the paint. SW Minnesota State out rebounded NMU 42-35. Freshman forward Alex Sorenson led NMU with eight rebounds.

NMU finished the game shooting 39.3% from the floor (24-61) and were 6-8 from the charity stripe. The Mustangs shot 42% in the contes (29-69) and were 12-20 from three-point range. MJ Delmore came off the bench to lead four Mustangs in double-digit scoring with a team-high 18 points.

(Information Courtesy of NMU Athletics)