'Cats Top Saginaw Valley St; Honor Gene Summers
This story written by NMU Sports Information Isaiah Johnson (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) scored a career-high 29 points and led the Wildcats with nine rebounds. Taylor scored first and the Wildcats built up an 11-2 early lead. SVSU fought back and claimed an 18-17 lead with just over nine minutes left in the first, but NMU responded with a 13-0 run over the next four minutes. Johnson started the run with a three-pointer on a pass from Echols. He then added another jumper. NMU would go up 33-21 with 3:04 to go and ended the half on a 6-0 run. Another tip-in, this time by junior Max Prendergast (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids West Catholic) was followed by a jumper by Tornes. Prendergast ended the half with two free throws to put the Wildcats ahead 39-21 at the half. Johnson opened the second half with a three pointer, then a jumper by Echols was followed by an SVSU basket. Sophomore Myles Howard (Chicago, Ill./Marian Catholic) answered with a dunk and the hosts were up 46-23. Tornes put the Wildcats ahead by as much as 28 points five minutes into the second half before the Cardinals rallied to reduce the NMU lead to 73-58 with 4:30 remaining in the game. An old-fashioned three-pointer by Echols ended the SVSU run and the Wildcats were ahead by 23 soon after. In the final minutes, the Cardinals chipped away but were unable to get closer than 15 points and NMU came away with the 86-69 victory. Former NMU standout and 1977 Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Gene Summers, was recognized at halftime of the game. With the win, the Wildcats improve to 5-0 on the season and 2-0 in the GLIAC. Saginaw Valley fell to 2-5 overall, 0-2 in GLIAC play. NMU will step onto the court again Thursday when they visit Purdue Northwest. |