Northern Michigan University’s Bennett Basich, center, goes up for a shot against a pair of defenders during a GLIAC men’s basketball game played against Purdue Northwest at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Jan. 22. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — It’s time to begin the final stretch run of the season for basketball teams in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Everybody’s seasons in both men’s and women’s basketball wrap up on the last day of this month, with eight more games between now and then.

The Northern Michigan University men’s team is in prime position, tied atop the league with Grand Valley State at 10-2 in conference games. NMU is 19-3 overall, ranked No. 16 in this week’s NCAA Division II poll conducted by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, while No. 14 GVSU is 17-3.

Both teams are a game ahead of No. 17 Michigan Tech, which lost at both Grand Valley and Davenport last week. No other GLIAC team is better than 6-6 in conference games.

The Wildcats host two of the three teams tied for seventh place in the league, Saginaw Valley State at 7:30 p.m. today and Lake Superior State at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Those two opponents along with Purdue Northwest are 5-7 in the conference. Right now that trio is vying for the final two spots — and a good chance one of them coming to play NMU in the GLIAC Tournament quarterfinals — the first week of March.

This week’s games will be streamed on FloCollege and can also be heard live on Marquette radio station WUPT 100.3 The Point. Fans can also follow @NMU_MensBBALL and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly Twitter) and @nmu_mbb on Instagram for updates throughout the weekend, or visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the men’s basketball schedule for links to ticket information, live video, live statistics and a preview.

Northern fell a half-dozen spots in the national rankings after splitting on the road last week, losing at Grand Valley 85-80 before turning back Davenport 77-63.

The Wildcats had single-digit victories against this week’s opponents three weeks ago on the road, defeating SVSU 86-77 and slipping past LSSU 77-74.

NMU has yet to lose this season at its home Vandament Arena, 8-0 in those games, with Dylan Kuehl the No. 2 scorer in the GLIAC in conference games at 20.9 points per game, while he is also at 18.9 ppg in all games.

He’s also third at 54.0% on field goal shooting and second with 1.7 blocked shots a game. Over his last 10 games, Kuehl has per-game averages of 22.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.

NMU continues to be efficient on the national stage, leading D-II with a plus-12.5 rebounding margin per game, while also top 10 in some other categories — second with a 1.83 assist-to-turnover ratio, ninth with 10.7 3-pointers per game and 10th with 63.5 ppg allowed.

Cal Klesmit also gets credit for some of this, with him second in the GLIAC with 3.3 triples a game and also second with 45.9% 3-point shooting. And he’s 10th in league-game scoring at 14.6 ppg and overall shooting percentage of 38.8%.

Bennett Basich has come into his own in the GLIAC, averaging 11.5 ppg and 7.1 rebounds, scoring in double figures in eight of his past 10 games.

And Jackson Dudek averages 13.0 ppg with career 44.7% 3-point shooting being second in the conference among all players with at least 80 attempts.

Saginaw Valley State (11-9 overall) is coming off home wins over Wisconsin-Parkside and Roosevelt, the bottom two teams in the league, though the Cardinals have also handed Grand Valley one of its two league losses.

SVSU’s Xavier Thomas is the No. 4 scorer in league games, right behind Kuehl, at 18.3 ppg, while teammate Kevonne Taylor tops the GLIAC and is top 10 nationally with 2.6 blocks a contest.

The game vs. LSSU could prove to be a high-scoring battle as they are the top two scoring teams in conference games, NMU No. 1 at 82.9 ppg and Lake State No. 2 at 81.3 ppg.

The Lakers also swept Roosevelt and Parkside last week at home. LSSU is 22nd in the nation with 10.1 3-pointers a game with Harrison Sorrelle the No. 9 scorer in GLIAC games at 15.3 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.