The Wildcats, ranked No. 13 in NCAA Division II, remained in a tie for the top spot in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with Upper Peninsula rival Michigan Tech, which is ranked No. 6.

Northern and Tech are both 17-2 overall and 8-1 in the conference, one game ahead of 7-2 Grand Valley State and three losses ahead of every other league team.

That includes Purdue NW, which slipped into a four-way tie for seventh place at 3-6 in the GLIAC, 7-9 overall. Eight teams make the GLIAC Tournament in early March, meaning right now two of those seventh-place teams would make it and two would not.

NMU faces fourth-place Wayne State (5-4 GLIAC) at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Warriors lost a tight 75-74 decision at Tech on Thursday evening.

Northern Michigan University’s Dylan Kuehl, top right, blocks a shot by Purdue Northwest’s Kyle Ross, left, during their GLIAC men’s basketball game played at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Thursday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Thursday’s combatants at Vandament Arena traded the lead four times during the first half before the Pride established a 41-37 lead at intermission.

The Wildcats took their first lead at 7-6 with 16:55 left in the first half on a Jackson Dudek 3-pointer before giving that lead up about 2 1/2 minutes later.

NMU retook a 21-20 lead with 9:48 left in the half on another Dudek triple, a few minutes before PNW went on its biggest run. The Pride scored eight straight points to take a 35-26 advantage 4:22 before halftime. That nine-point lead would be the biggest by either team all night.

Northern managed to get its deficit down to four points by halftime after Dylan Kuehl made a pair of free throws with two seconds left.

The Wildcats’ Bennett Basich made a triple 2:25 into the second half to give his team the lead again, 45-43, one it would hold until the Pride retied it 59-59 with 8:24 to go on a Davontae Hall layup.

Purdue NW then took a narrow lead for the next few minutes as neither team had more than a one-score lead until the final 45 seconds.

Kuehl hit a pair of free throws to tie and then give Northern a 67-66 lead with 5:44 left, but the Pride wrestled it back soon after. Then with 2:08 remaining, Cal Klesmit made a layup that put NMU back on top, 73-71, this time a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

The last layup was in the beginning stages of a final 13-4 run by the Wildcats that secured the victory. Down the stretch — that would be in the last 13 seconds — NMU’s Brooks Hinson and Klesmit would each go 2 of 2 at the free-throw line to ice the triumph.

Kuehl finished with a game-high 28 points, hitting 17 of them in the second half. While he only made one 3-pointer, he was 10 of 15 overall from the field and also sank 7 of 8 free throws, adding in three assists and three blocked shots. It was the second straight game where his number of blocked shots equaled that of all other players on both teams combined.

Klesmit added 18 points, hitting three triples and 5 of 7 free throws while dishing out a game-high five assists. Dudek pumped in 14 points, knocking down a pair of 3s and sharing with Basich game rebounding honors with 11.

Basich scored five points, making his only 3-point try, and also had four assists, while teammate Sam Privet contributed 11 points in just 14 minutes playing time.

Kyle Ross paced Purdue NW with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Both teams shot close to 50% from the field and 80% from the free-throw line, NMU making 30 of 63 from the floor (48%) and 15 of 19 free throws (79%). The Pride were 30 of 58 from the field (52%) and 8 of 10 at the line (80%).

NMU 82, Purdue NW 75

Thursday at Vandament Arena

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

PURDUE NORTHWEST — Ross 9-5-23, Taylor 6-0-14, Clark 4-0-10, Askew 2-0-5, Hall 4-3-11, Abdelkarim 4-0-10, Stoutermire 1-0-2. Totals 30-8-75.

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Kuehl 10-7-28, Klesmit 5-5-18, Dudek 6-0-14, Basich 2-0-5, Privet 5-1-11, Hinson 1-2-4, Allen 1-0-2. Totals 30-15-82.

Halftime score: Purdue NW 41-37

FG shooting: Purdue Northwest 30 of 58 (51.7 percent), NMU 30 of 63 (47.6 percent); 3-point shooting: Purdue Northwest 7 of 16 (43.8 percent), NMU 7 of 25 (28 percent); FT shooting: Purdue Northwest 8 of 10 (80 percent), NMU 15 of 19 (78.9 percent); Rebounding, Purdue Northwest 31 (Kyle Ross 10), NMU 35 (Jackson Dudek and Bennett Basich 11 each); Assists, Purdue Northwest 11 (Ahlante Askew 4), NMU 21 (Cal Klesmit 5); Steals, Purdue Northwest 5 (Davontae Hall 2), NMU 2 (Klesmit and Sam Privet 1 each); Turnovers, Purdue Northwest 4, NMU 6.

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.