NMU men come up short vs. Lakers

ALLENDALE, Mich. – Northern Michigan University men’s basketball (8-14, 6-10 GLIAC) opened the weekend falling to Grand Valley State by a 60-54 final. Senior forward Chavis Mattison recorded his fourth consecutive double-double off the bench scoring 12 points with 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Jordan Perez scored a game-high 16 points for the Wildcats.

NMU opened the game with the early 12-10 lead eventually building their lead to as large as 19-14 with 6:38 left in the half. Grand Valley then was able to finish the half strong going on a 14-4 run to bring the halftime score to 28-23.

The Wildcats then started the second half with a 9-3 run, capped off by a three-point basket from sophomore guard Marcus Hall, to retake the lead at 32-31 with 15:21 left.

The Lakers were able to answer, however, scoring the next 10 points to take a 41-32 advantage with 7:49 remaining in the game. Grand Valley took this comfortable lead to a 48-39 score with 4:04 left to play before Northern Michigan went on a 10-1 run that put the score at 50-49 and 1:51 left to play. GVSU then finished the game off with a 10-5 streak going 6-7 from the free throw line to the final score of 60-54.

Northern Michigan would shoot 23-58 (.397) for the game and outscored GVSU 16-11 on second chance points. The Lakers took the edge going 25-27 (.926) from the charity stripe for the game.

Mattison added three assists and two steals to his double-double, while freshman forward Kenny Williams and Perez each grabbed seven rebounds on the night.

Northern Michigan travels to Ferris State to finish the weekend Saturday, February 7th for a 3 p.m. tip.

(Information/Photo Courtesy of NMU Athletics)