But Saturday, the Wildcats outdid that performance as they stunned No. 11 Grand Valley State 75-73.

NMU’s win puts it in third place in the GLIAC North Division while also snapping two streaks. The first was a six-game winning streak for GVSU and the other was a 10-game home winning streak for the Sawyers (Saturday was a throwback for GVSU as the Lakers changed their nickname for the day).

Noah Parcher led the Wildcats (10-9, 7-4 GLIAC) off the bench with 16 points, while Sam Taylor had 15 points, Dolapo Olayinka 13 and Marcus Matelski 12.

GVSU (16-3, 9-2) led early, but with the score tied 17-17, NMU got hot from beyond the arc, knocking down five treys, two from Matelski, to build a 32-25 lead with 1:08 remaining in the first half.

Sam Taylor

The Wildcats built their second-half advantage up to 16 points twice on jumpers by Alec Fruin, the second one making it 71-55 with 2:48 remaining.

That lead may have seemed secure, but the Sawyers kept at it. In the late going, GV’s Jayden Hodgson made it 75-71 and Van Tubbergen dropped in a layup with 6 seconds left to pull the Sawyers within two.

GVSU did get one last shot, but Ferguson missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

NMU travels to Saginaw Valley State Thursday and Northwood Saturday.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ryan Stieg. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.