Grand Valley State's Marius Grazulis, right, looks to go up for a shot against the defense of Northern Michigan University' Jackson Dudek during their GLIAC men's basketball game played at the Lakers' arena on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Grand Valley State University)

ALLENDALE — The Northern Michigan University men’s basketball team dropped into a tie for third place in the GLIAC following a back-and-forth 81-75 loss at Grand Valley State on Saturday afternoon.

The game had 21 lead changes as NMU Sports Information noted more than half of it was played within a single possession.

The Wildcats fell to 18-7 overall and 10-5 in the GLIAC, tied with Lake Superior State, a game behind second-place Ferris State (11-4) and a game and a half behind Wisconsin-Parkside (11-3).

NMU has both an opportunity and a big challenge when they host the league-leading Rangers at 5:30 p.m. Thursday before entertaining seventh-place Purdue Northwest at 11 a.m. Saturday.

On Saturday, the Lakers used a 6-0 run starting with 3:29 left to break a 71-71 tie and take control.

Marquette Senior High School graduate Marius Grazulis played a key role in another GVSU win over Northern.

After scoring 14 points and pulling down 11 rebounds in the Lakers’ 82-77 win in Marquette on Jan. 21, on Saturday, the 6-foot-11 2019 graduate of MSHS scored a game-high 24 points by making 10 of 14 shots from the field while also pulling down seven rebounds and making a game-high five assists in just 25 minutes court time.

The 24 points was also the junior Grazulis’ highest point total this season.

Max Bjorklund led the Wildcats with 23 points as he made 3 of 6 on triples and pulled in four rebounds.

Teammate Sam Schultz added 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Dylan Kuehl had 10 points and two blocked shots.

Isaiah Carver-Bagley and Chinedu Kingsley Okanu aided the Lakers’ cause with 12 points apiece.

NMU jumped out to an 8-2 edge before GVSU took its first lead, 17-16, with 11:22 left in the first half.

Schultz, who had nine points in the first half, helped the Wildcats stay in the thick of the battle as the lead changed hands 14 times before intermission, when Northern led 45-41.

But the Lakers started the second half on a 7-0 run, going ahead 48-45. After their first basket 17 seconds into the second half closed it to a one-score game, the game didn’t see a two-score advantage again until there was 5:03 to go.

After falling behind by multiple scores down the stretch, the Wildcats battled back with two 3s within a minute, closing the gap.

After Bjorklund’s triple tied it 71-71 with 3:29 to go, the Lakers put together their 6-0 run to take an insurmountable advantage with under a minute remaining. They hit free throws in the final seconds to put the game away.

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