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MARQUETTE — The Northern Michigan University men’s basketball team employed a 1-2 punch of good shooting and strong rebounding to blow past Grand Valley State 79-52 on Thursday night at Vandament Arena in Marquette.

GLIAC top-10 scorer Dylan Kuehl led the Wildcats with 21 points, while teammate Jackson Dudek took advantage of his first start of the season to pitch in 16 points as each player pulled down game highs of nine rebounds apiece.

Kuehl also had three assists and two blocked shots, while Dudek hit a pair of 3-pointers in three tries and didn’t commit a turnover in 32 minutes court time.

Northern Michigan University coaches, from left, assistant coach John-Michael Hughes, head coach Matt Majkrzak and assistant Keil Ganz watch a play at the other end of the court during a GLIAC men’s basketball game played against Grand Valley State at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Thursday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

NMU’s Julien Smith scored 14 points, hitting 3 of 6 triples, while Gerald Gittens Jr. had 10 points, three rebounds and a game-high four assists. Sam Privet pitched in with eight points and three rebounds.

Charles Turner paced the Lakers with 12 points, while William Dunn had 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Not only did Northern outrebound GVSU 46-32, but the Wildcats shot nearly 50% from the field, 48.3% to be exact (29 of 60), while the Lakers made just 30% (18 of 60).

NMU pulled out of a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference to take over that position alone at 7-4 — and 13-6 overall — and also got within a game of Ferris State (8-3), which fell out of a three-way tie for the league’s top spot after losing to fellow leader Lake Superior State 73-64 on Thursday. LSSU and Michigan Tech, which downed Davenport 77-69, remain two games ahead of the Wildcats at 9-2.

Grand Valley was one of the previous fourth-place teams, but now has fallen into a tie for fifth at 6-5, 10-9 overall.

Northern played a solid first half, trailing only one time, 25-24, after a Turner 3-pointer 3:48 before halftime. Earlier, NMU raced out to an 11-3 start less than 4 1/2 minutes in with two Dudek layups and one by Gittens, along with a Smith triple and two Kuehl free throws.

The Wildcats’ high-water mark in the first half was a nine-point lead, 15-6, after a pair of Privet free throws with 12:03 to go.

But GVSU whittled down its deficit to one, 17-16, after a Turner trey before taking the lead a few minutes later.

Then Northern finished the first half on a 10-2 run to go up 34-27 at intermission.

However, it was the second half where NMU really shined. That’s when Kuehl scored 17 of his points as the Wildcats shot 60% (18 of 30), including making exactly half their 3-pointers, 6 of 12. And they also had a 22-12 rebounding edge after halftime.

Northern extended its lead after intermission into double digits in the first two minutes when Smith made a 3. The lead jumped to 49-31 in another 4 1/2 minutes, then went to 20 points for the first time with 11:40 to go, 56-34, when Smith hit another triple.

NMU’s biggest lead was 76-43 with 4:29 to go after Dudek hit his last trey.

The Wildcats finish their week at home at 2 p.m. today when they host last-place Davenport. The Panthers are 1-10 in league, tied with Purdue Northwest, and 5-14 overall.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the game. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.