Great Lakes Wire

The Northern Michigan University men's basketball team experienced a challenging game against No. 20 Ferris State, resulting in a 91-84 loss at Vandament Arena. The match was characterized by its lack of rhythm, with 43 fouls called and six ties and lead changes throughout the contest. Ferris State's decisive 11-0 run in the second half played a crucial role in their victory.

In the second half, Ferris State capitalized on 21 free throw attempts resulting from 13 NMU fouls, successfully converting 19 of them. NMU was perfect from the line during this period, going 7-7.

Dylan Kuehl emerged as a standout performer for NMU, scoring a career-high 31 points with an impressive shooting display of 10-16 from the floor. Notably, he scored 21 of those points in the final half. Ferris State's Ethan Erickson matched Kuehl's performance with his own tally of 31 points.

Gerald Gittens Jr., playing on his senior night with childhood friend and current Golden State Warrior Brandin Podziemski present, contributed significantly with a season-best 21 points on 7-12 shooting and led the game with five assists.

Ferris State established their largest lead at 33-19 in the first half. However, NMU managed to narrow the gap to a seven-point deficit at halftime, trailing by only seven points at 45-38.

At the start of the second half, NMU quickly gained momentum by scoring 16 points within just over three minutes. Key contributions came from Julien Smith, Sam Privet, Dylan Kuehl hitting triples, and Jackson Dudek adding a score at the rim. This effort tied the game at 51-51 before another three-pointer from Kuehl gave NMU a brief lead.

The Wildcats continued to push forward and achieved their largest lead at 61-56 with just over twelve minutes remaining. Despite leading again at nine minutes left with a score of 68-64, Ferris State responded with an important run to take control of the game once more.

Gittens Jr.'s three-pointer reduced NMU's deficit to one point late in the game but Ferris State maintained composure and secured victory through successful free throws.

Following this result, Northern Michigan is now positioned fifth in their conference standings with a record of 10 wins and six losses. They remain in contention for home court advantage in postseason quarterfinals.

Looking ahead, NMU will travel to Houghton on Thursday to face Michigan Tech who currently leads GLIAC standings.