Again playing at their home Vandament Arena, NMU was involved in a much more competitive first half than three days previous, when Northern raced out to a 55-10 halftime edge on Concordia.

On Sunday, the Wildcats “only” led 48-31 at the intermission, instead using a 61-21 bulge in the second half to again more than double up their opposition on the scoreboard by game’s end.

NMU improved to 8-1 with the victory as Marian slipped to 5-4.

The Wildcats are off to the Caribbean tropics to play in the Puerto Rico Clasico in the U.S. commonwealth over three straight days later this week. Northern opens against Interamericana at 5:15 p.m. EST Thursday, then faces Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras at 7 p.m. EST Friday and concludes the trip against Puerto Rico-Bayamon at 6:30 p.m. EST Friday.

Northern Michigan University’s Jackson Dudek, center, goes up for a layup during a game played against Marian at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Sunday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

They come home to face some much less exotic competition to begin 2026, hosting GLIAC games against Davenport at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 1, and Grand Valley State at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 3.

On Sunday, last year’s late-season sensation Jackson Dudek really found his shooting touch again, putting in a game-high — and career-high — 29 points despite playing just 22 minutes. It helped that he was 10 of 12 from the field, including 3 of 3 on 3-pointers, adding in a perfect 6-of-6 performance at the free-throw line. Just for good measure, he also pulled down a game-high seven rebounds while not turning the ball over even once.

After giving his shooting arm a bit of a rest lately, teammate Dylan Kuehl got back in stride with 20 points, making 8 of 10 from the field, including 7 of 7 on 2-pointers, also making two steals and two assists.

Recent high-octane scorer Cal Klesmit cooled a bit but still had 10 points, making 5 of 6 free throws, dishing out a game-high eight assists and adding in five rebounds and two steals.

Coming off the bench in the late going, Cody Schmitz also scored an efficient 10 points by making 4 of 4 from the field and 2 of 2 free throws. He tacked on four rebounds, all in only seven minutes on the court.

Marvin Haslett paced the Sabres with 21 points, hitting a trio of triples and 6 of 7 free throws.

While the Wildcats had some solid advantages in numerous team statistics, rebounding really stood out against their two foes from Wisconsin and the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.

NMU had a 41-20 rebounding edge on Sunday, which amounted to an overall 98-34 advantage on the boards for the two games.

The Wildcats actually trailed for a majority of Sunday’s first 10 minutes, falling behind 13-8 at one point when Marian’s Andrew Ayeni hit a jumper with 15:18 left in the first half.

But when Dudek hit a triple about 30 seconds after he made a pair of free throws, Northern had a 17-16 lead it wouldn’t relinquish. In fact, his points came in the middle of an NMU 12-0 run that produced a 24-16 lead with 8:36 to go before intermission.

It reached double digits three minutes later and was a 17-point edge at halftime.

Northern got its first 40-point lead at 81-41 with 11:10 to go on a Dudek free throw before it reached 50 at 97-46 on a Bennett Basich layup with 6:05 remaining. 

NMU 109, Marian 52

Sunday at Vandament Arena

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

MARIAN — Haslett 6-6-21, Krolak 2-1-5, Ayeni 1-2-4, Orozco 1-0-3, Vassilakis 0-2-2, Johnson 2-2-6, Bost 2-0-6, Breitenbach 0-3-3, Ware 1-0-2. Totals 15-16-52.

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Dudek 10-6-29, Kuehl 8-3-20, Klesmit 2-5-10, Miller 2-0-6, Polite 2-0-4, Schmitz 4-2-10, Privet 4-0-8, Basich 3-0-6, Hinson 1-0-3, Bellisle 1-0-3, Robertson 1-0-2, Allen 1-0-2, Gregoire 1-0-2, Hanson 0-2-2, Fife 0-2-2. Totals 40-20-109.

Halftime score: NMU 48-31

FG shooting: Marian 15 of 45 (33.3 percent), NMU 40 of 63 (63.5 percent); 3-point shooting: Marian 6 of 17 (35.3 percent), NMU 9 of 21 (42.9 percent); FT shooting: Marian 16 of 23 (69.6 percent), NMU 20 of 24 (83.3 percent); Rebounding, Marian 20 (Alex Vassilakis 6), NMU 41 (Jackson Dudek 7); Assists, Marian 7 (3 players with 2 each), NMU 27 (Cal Klesmit 8); Steals, Marian 12 (Marvin Haslett 3), NMU 13 (Bennett Basich 3); Turnovers, Marian 24, NMU 12.

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.