Northern Michigan University senior guard Max Bjorklund dribbles the ball upcourt during a Wildcats game played at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — Max Bjorklund might’ve lost the individual scoring war, but the Northern Michigan University men’s basketball team won something much more important.

The game.

Behind Bjorklund’s 33 points that included making 7 of 10 on 3-pointers, the Wildcats raced to an 89-74 victory over visiting Davenport at the Berry Events Center on Saturday afternoon.

NMU bounced back quickly from having its eight-game winning streak snapped in an 82-77 home loss to Grand Valley State on Thursday.

The victory allowed the Wildcats (15-4 overall) not only to hold onto their share of first place in the GLIAC, but to retake the top spot alone after coleaders Lake Superior State and Wisconsin-Parkside each lost Saturday.

Lake State fell at Saginaw Valley State 79-73 while UWP lost at Purdue Northwest 90-82.

It’s still a tight race, however, with NMU at 7-2 and the Lakers, Rangers and Ferris State all a game behind at 6-3.

On Saturday, Bjorklund lost individual scoring honors as Davenport’s Marcedus Leech Jr. put in a career-high 35 points, making five 3-pointers and 8 of 10 free throws.

Bjorklund is still the GLIAC’s leading scorer at 20.6 points per game. Leech is second at 19.8 ppg with no one else within a point of the player from Davenport (6-13, 2-7).

Bjorklund also had the better offensive support Saturday as redshirt freshman Dylan Kuehl added 21 points, hitting 4 of 6 on triples while adding a team-high nine rebounds and game-high three steals.

Teammate Carson Smith contributed 10 points, while freshman Max Weisbrod dished out 11 assists while scoring five points. Bjorklund was second on the team in assists with four, while Sam Schultz was second in rebounding with six.

Both teams shot quite well, hitting within a couple percentage points of 50% both overall from the field and on 3-pointers. They did struggle with free throws, however, hitting around 58%, though NMU had a solid rebounding advantage, 39-29, and only committed six turnovers.

Northern jumped out to a 45-28 lead by halftime with Kuehl sending home 18 points and Bjorklund 17 in that 20 minutes.

Davenport never trailed in the game’s first 10 minutes, however, though NMU tied it 13-13 with 13:43 left on a Kuehl 3.

The Wildcats finally got their first lead with 9:45 to go in the first half, 18-16, on another Kuehl triple and never relinquished it.

In fact, his second trey came in an extended 29-8 run that gave NMU its largest lead of the first half, 42-24, with 3:35 remaining after Bjorklund hit one of his 3’s.

Northern continued to enjoy a lead of at least 16 points throughout the first 11 minutes of the second half, getting its advantage up to as many as 25 points, 69-44 and 71-46, on a Weisbrod 3 and Najashi Tolefree jumper, respectively.

The Panthers made a bit of a run as time started running down, getting as close as 11 points, 73-62, with 6:55 left on a Jordan Sterling free throw.

But Northern had another spurt left and hiked its lead back to 20, 89-69, with 1:49 left on a Bjorklund triple.

The Wildcats hit the road this week with GLIAC contests at Lake Superior State at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and at Ferris State at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Northern doesn’t return home until next month when it hosts Saginaw Valley State at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.