Following a momentary break in the action, Northern Michigan University players, from left, Brooks Hinson, Jackson Dudek, Cal Klesmit, Trevor Polite and Dylan Kuehl have a quick huddle on the court during a game played against Minnesota-Duluth at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Nov. 29. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

By STEVE BROWNLEE

Journal Sports Editor

MARQUETTE — The men’s basketball team at Northern Michigan University has a pair of home games against relative neighbors before heading out of the continental U.S. for three games in Puerto Rico next week.

The 6-1 Wildcats host a pair of NCAA Division III schools from Wisconsin tonight and Sunday afternoon, then are off to the U.S. commonwealth for three games in three days starting next Thursday.

Today’s game at 7:30 p.m. at Vandament Arena is against Concordia of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference, while the 3 p.m. Sunday contest is also at home vs. Marian.

Today’s game is also the annual Wildcat Toy Drive sponsored by Northern’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, with fans able to donate by bringing a new, unwrapped toy for the Salvation Army and St. Vincent de Paul.

The games at the Puerto Rico Clasico, with a site not announced on the island, start at 5:15 p.m. EST next Thursday against Interamericana, also with games vs. Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras at 7 p.m. EST on Friday, Dec. 19, and against Puerto Rico-Bayamon at 6:30 p.m. EST on Saturday, Dec. 20.

NMU finally gets its holiday rest after that, returning to action back home at Vandament Arena on New Year’s Day, at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 1 vs. Davenport, a foe from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

“There is a lot of positives (with the upcoming schedule), even with five games in 10 days and travel to Puerto Rico,” Northern head coach Matt Majkrzak said in an NMU Sports Information news release previewing this action. “Concordia has two guys (who) are special talents and they are different from the Division III (teams) which we typically play. Their two-headed monster should present a unique challenge.”

Fans can follow @NMU_MensBBALL and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly Twitter) and @nmu_mbb on Instagram for updates throughout this period, with the home games this week on radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point, though no media coverage has been announced in Puerto Rico.

Fans can also visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the men’s basketball schedule for links to ticket information for the home games, along with live video, live statistics and a preview.

Last weekend, Northern opened its conference campaign on the road, winning at Wisconsin-Parkside 82-78 and at Roosevelt 85-64.

The most noteworthy accomplishment from those games were the two highest collegiate scoring games from Cal Klesmit. The sophomore guard’s previous high output in a game was 13 points, but vs. Parkside he led all scorers with 30 and vs. Roosevelt he again led all scorers with 20, adding in career highs in the latter game of eight rebounds and seven assists.

All told, he made 11 of 17 on his 3-point attempts on the trip, hitting at least five each game.

For the season, graduate student forward Dylan Kuehl leads the Wildcats in scoring at 19.3 points per game, also No. 3 in the GLIAC as he has scored in double figures in all seven NMU games this season. His 7.6 rebounds per game rank him fourth in the conference, his 53.1% shooting from the floor is third, 4.3 assists per game is second and 0.9 blocked shots an outing is 10th.

Klesmit has bumped his scoring average beyond what his previous high game was, now at 13.6 ppg and ranking 15th in the league, while his 44.2% overall shooting is No. 1.

Teammate Jackson Dudek, last spring’s GLIAC Tournament MVP, is at 10.6 ppg, while transfer Charlie Miller is just a shade under double digits averaging 9.9 ppg.

Northern is No. 2 in NCAA Division II with a 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio while leading the GLIAC with 16.6 assists per game. Additionally, the Wildcats are 18th in the nation by making 40.3% on 3s and are the only conference team averaging double digits on triples, making an average 10.3 per game.

Concordia is 4-4 after a 76-71 win over Edgewood most recently, the Falcons favoring a fast tempo as they average 78.8 ppg while allowing 80.0. Logan Landers is at 26.4 ppg, No. 5 in Division III, and also averages 11.5 rebounds a contest.

Marian is 3-3 after its most recent outings were a 66-61 loss to Concordia and 73-64 win over Edgewood. The Sabres scored at 71.5 ppg and give up just 67.2 ppg. Andrew Ayeni leads them at 18.0 ppg.

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