Northern Michigan University’s Keller Hanson, right, follows through on a shot in a college men’s basketball game played against Interamericana University in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Thursday. Teammate Aidan Bellisle, a Menominee High School graduate, looks on, second from left. (Photo courtesy NMU)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Things continue looking up for the men’s basketball team at Northern Michigan University as the Wildcats embark on their trip to Puerto Rico.

NMU dominated in an 85-47 victory over Interamericana University on Thursday, the first of three straight days of games against teams from the U.S. commonwealth at the Puerto Rico Clasico.

Northern was to continue with a game against Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras on Friday evening before wrapping up this quick tour of the Caribbean island at 6:30 p.m. EST today against Puerto Rico-Bayamon.

The PR Clasico involves two other NCAA Division II teams from the U.S., Tiffin and Texas-Tyler, playing games against squads from Puerto Rico.

These games apparently do count on the teams’ overall records, as NMU is now listed as having a 9-1 record for this season.

Thursday’s game went much like the Wildcats’ past two games against Division III teams from Wisconsin did in the past week, when Northern posted 52- and 57-point home wins over Concordia and Marian, respectively.

On Thursday, 16 Northern players saw time on the court with a dozen scoring and 13 getting a rebound.

Despite a close game for the first 15 minutes, NMU starting pulling away and built a 39-24 lead by halftime, steadily building it throughout the second half to its final 38-point margin by the end.

Northern’s rebounding was dominant once again. After holding a nearly 3-to-1 margin against the Wisconsin schools, NMU’s margin was almost identical vs. Interamericana with a whopping 46-16 advantage on the boards, led by usual top scorer Dylan Kuehl getting eight.

On this day, Kuehl put in just four points, but made up for it with his rebounding and also dishing out a game-high six assists, coming in just 23 minutes court time.

Jackson Dudek, who set his career high in scoring with 29 points vs. Marian on Sunday, led all scorers Thursday with 19 points, making 8 of 9 from the field, including both 3-point attempts, and also sinking his only free throw try. He added in four rebounds and two assists.

Interestingly, Dudek saw the same number of limited minutes — 22 — that he had in the Marian game.

Cal Klesmit, who has become a big scorer for the Wildcats in recent weeks, pumped in 12 points with three triples, four rebounds and two assists, while teammate Brooks Hinson added 11 points as he also made three 3s.

Northern’s Ross Robertson and Isaiah Allen added eight points apiece, each making 4 of 5 from the field, while reigning GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week Bennett Basich pulled down seven rebounds and had two assists while only scoring two points in 12 minutes court time.

Cristopher Soto paced Interamericana with 10 points.

The Tigres struggled with their shooting, making a shade under 30% from the field overall (15 of 51) and a paltry 12% on 3s (3 of 25).

The Wildcats had solid numbers there with 48% from the field (30 of 63) and 37% on triples (11 of 30).

Despite the shooting struggles, Interamericana got off to a fast 3-0 start on three free throws by Soto 16 seconds in and still led 8-5 a few minutes later as Dereck Garcia hit two more free throws and Jose Perez sank a trey.

But when Klesmit sank a 3 with 11:26 left in the first half, NMU took a 20-17 lead it wouldn’t relinquish. In fact, that started a Northern 22-5 run that ballooned the advantage to 39-22 just 58 seconds before halftime following a Dudek “traditional” three-point play of a layup and free throw.

The Wildcats attained their first 20-point lead, 51-30, early in the second half with 15:40 remaining on a Dudek triple, then went 30 points ahead for the first time at 67-36 on a Dudek dunk with 9:42 left.

NMU 85, Interamericana 47

Thursday at San Juan, Puerto Rico

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

INTERAMERICANA — Soto 3-4-10, J. Perez 3-0-7, Garcia 2-2-6, Rosario 1-0-2, Nieves 2-4-8, O. Sanchez 2-3-8, Rodriguez 1-0-3, Colon 1-0-2, Rivera 0-1-1. Totals 15-14-47.

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Dudek 8-1-19, Klesmit 4-1-12, Miller 2-1-6, Polite 1-3-5, Kuehl 2-0-4, Hinson 3-2-11, Robertson 4-0-8, Allen 4-0-8, Hanson 2-0-6, Privet 0-3-3, Basich 0-2-2, Ingalls 0-1-1. Totals 30-14-85.

Halftime score: NMU 39-24

FG shooting: Interamericana 15 of 51 (29.4 percent), NMU 30 of 63 (47.6 percent); 3-point shooting: Interamericana 3 of 25 (12 percent), NMU 11 of 30 (36.7 percent); FT shooting: Interamericana 14 of 21 (66.7 percent), NMU 14 of 23 (60.9 percent); Rebounding, Interamericana 16 (5 players with 2 each), NMU 46 (Dylan Kuehl 8); Assists, Interamericana 7 (Geryad Rosario 3), NMU 21 (Kuehl 6); Steals, Interamericana 4 (4 players with 1 each), NMU 6 (6 players with 1 each); Turnovers, Interamericana 10, NMU 10.

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.