The graduate student forward who is a three-time Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference First Team honoree pumped in 31 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots to lead the Wildcats to a comeback 77-74 victory at Lake Superior State.

NMU, which remained tied with Michigan Tech atop the GLIAC at 6-1, erased a deficit that reached 14 points late in the first half with a stirring final 20 minutes, when Kuehl scored 18 of his points.

Overall he made 11 of 17 shots from the field as Northern (15-2 overall) didn’t take its first lead of the night until 2:53 remained when teammate Jackson Dudek hit a 3-pointer that made it 70-68.

Even then, the Wildcats had to pull out of one more tie after the Lakers’ Omar Suleiman hit a triple with 1:23 left to knot it up at 72-72.

Northern Michigan University’s Dylan Kuehl, right, reaches over Michigan Tech's Jesse Napgezek, center, and past the Huskies' Gabe Smith for the ball during their GLIAC game played in Houghton on Jan. 8. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Neither team scored again for more than a minute until NMU’s Cal Klesmit rang in another trey with 21 ticks to go that put the visitors ahead for good.

Not that it was over, though. LSSU’s Karter Richards made a layup with six seconds remaining that made it 75-74, but Northern’s Brooks Hinson was fouled with 4.6 seconds to go and made both free throws for the final three-point margin.

Suleiman did put up another 3-point try at the buzzer that missed the mark.

Kuehl hit on 5 of 8 on triple tries, adding in a 4-of-5 performance at the free throw line.

Bennett Basich was the Wildcats’ only other double-figure scorer with 10 points, all coming in the second half, as he made a pair of 3s and grabbed five rebounds.

Dudek finished with seven points, hitting a 3, adding in four rebounds and three assists, while Klesmit had six points on a pair of triples with four rebounds and a team-high five assists.

Nationally No. 20-ranked NMU held a 41-29 rebounding advantage.

Suleiman led Lake State (8-8, 2-5 GLIAC) with 19 points.

Northern fell in an early hole after making just 8 of 27 shots (29.6%) in the first half. The Lakers raced out to a 7-0 lead 2 1/2 minutes into the game, but the Wildcats kept their deficit in single digits until 8:07 remained in the half, when Suleiman made a layup for a 10-point, 25-15 lead.

Falling down 35-21 with exactly three minutes to go before halftime, NMU got back within 37-27 at intermission.

Northern scored the first seven points of the second half on a Basich triple and Kuehl pair of free throws and dunk that pulled the visitors within a single basket, 37-34, with 17:52 to go.

But the Wildcats couldn’t get over the hump for most of the time remaining, getting as close as two points on three occasions, the final time at 51-49 with 10:52 to go following a Charlie Miller jumper.

A late spurt, however, finally pulled NMU into a 61-61 tie when Kuehl hit another 3 with 6:01 remaining. It would be another three minutes until Northern took its first lead.

Kuehl was noted by NMU Sports Information in its game report for a big defensive play with 35 seconds left with the score knotted 72-72. He rotated over to the lane to reject a driving layup attampt, setting up Klesmit for his corner 3 he buried less than 15 seconds later that put the Wildcats ahead for good.

Northern gets right back into action at 3 p.m. today in University Center between Saginaw and Bay City to take on Saginaw Valley State. Though the Cardinals are only a modest 3-4 in the GLIAC, they took Tech to the limit on Thursday before falling 80-78.

NMU 77, Lake Superior St. 74

Thursday at Sault Ste. Marie

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Kuehl 11-4-31, Basich 4-0-10, Dudek 3-0-7, Miller 2-1-6, Klesmit 2-0-6, Hinson 1-4-6, Allen 2-1-5, Privet 1-2-4, Robertson 1-0-2. Totals 27-12-77.

LAKE SUPERIOR STATE — Suleiman 7-3-19, Carter-Smith 7-1-15, Sorrelle 2-4-9, Jamison 0-2-2, Nwoke 1-0-2, Richards 5-2-12, Krzesowiak 4-0-9, Hess 2-0-6. Totals 28-12-74.

Halftime score: LSSU 37-27

FG shooting: NMU 27 of 60 (45 percent), Lake Superior St. 28 of 57 (49.1 percent); 3-point shooting: NMU 11 of 27 (40.7 percent), Lake Superior St. 6 of 20 (30 percent); FT shooting: NMU 12 of 15 (80 percent), Lake Superior St. 12 of 19 (63.2 percent); Rebounding, NMU 41 (Dylan Kuehl 11), Lake Superior St. 29 (Nino Carter-Smith 6); Assists, NMU 15 (Cal Klesmit 5), Lake Superior St. 14 (Carter-Smith 8); Steals, NMU 4 (Bennett Basich 2), Lake Superior St. 9 (3 players with 2 each); Turnovers, NMU 12, Lake Superior St. 9.

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.