Northern Michigan University’s Riley Brooks, right, tries to get around Ripon’s William Ryan to take a shot during their college men’s basketball game played at the Berry Events Center in Marquette on Saturday afternoon. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — The Northern Michigan University men’s basketball team turned on the afterburners in the second half to run off with a 95-37 victory over NCAA Division III Ripon College on Saturday afternoon.

After establishing a comfortable, but not dominating, 33-19 halftime lead, the Wildcats (9-5) went out and scored 62 points in the second half to make it a runaway.

NMU made 81% of its shots (26 of 32) after halftime, including 56% (5 of 9) on 3-pointers, while also outrebounding Ripon 24-11 and dishing out 19 assists in those final 20 minutes.

Northern emptied its bench as all dozen players who suited up scored. Carson Smith led the way with 16 points, including 4 of 6 on triples, while Sam Schultz had his sixth double-double of the season with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds as the Wildcats finished with a 46-27 overall edge on the boards.

Teammates Dylan Kuehl and Sam Privet added 11 points apiece, while Max Weisbrod and Brian Parzych each dished out eight assists as Weisbrod had nine points and Parzych seven.

William Ryan paced Ripon (2-10) with nine points.

NMU raced out quickly, taking its first double-digit lead at 17-5 with 11:41 left in the first half on a Riley Brooks 3-pointer. Northern’s lead expanded to as many as 20 points, 29-9, with 5:29 left in the half on a Smith layup before the Wildcats settled for a 14-point halftime bulge.

While the teams traded a couple baskets and free throws to open the second half, NMU soon went on a 16-0 run to take a 53-22 lead with 15:40 remaining on a Privet layup.

The ‘Cats continued to expand the lead, first getting a 50-point lead at 87-37 with 2:29 left on a Brandon Trilli layup.

Northern recorded season highs with 38 field goals, nine steals and 29 assists.

This game concluded an eight-game homestand that began two days before Thanksgiving as the Wildcats went 6-2 in that time span.

They now return to GLIAC play on the road this week, playing in Grand Rapids at Davenport at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and in Allendale against Grand Valley State at 3 p.m. Saturday.

NMU returns home at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 11 to take on Lake Superior State at the Berry Events Center.

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