Northern Michigan University’s Trevor Polite, right, goes up for a shot during a GLIAC men’s basketball game played against Lake Superior State at Vandament Arena in Marquette last Saturday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

DETROIT — What’s the best way to rebound from a loss? Rebound — a lot.

After losing its most recent game at home to Lake Superior State a week ago, the men’s basketball team at Northern Michigan University did rebound, dominating the boards in an 82-62 victory at Wayne State on Thursday evening.

Luckily for the Wildcats, the loss last week still left them in a tie for the top spot in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and they remained there after Thursday’s victory.

NMU, Michigan Tech and Grand Valley State are all 12-3 in conference games, the two Upper Peninsula schools also 21-4 overall while the Lakers are 19-4.

And the trio are all nationally ranked, the Huskies at No. 13, Wildcats at No. 17 and GVSU No. 19 in this week’s NCAA Division II poll conducted by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

By the way, Tech edged Purdue Northwest 63-61 and the Lakers thumped Roosevelt 81-52 on Thursday night.

Back in Detroit, Northern held a big 41-25 edge in rebounding overall, including 16-5 on the offensive glass as the teams shot almost identically — right around 46.5%.

But NMU got off an extra eight shots to go with five more free-throw attempts, taking a 25-8 bulge in second-half points.

The Wildcats’ rebounding could be described as by committee — eight players had at least three rebounds, led by revived starter Trevor Polite nabbing eight of them in just 22 minutes court time.

He wasn’t counted on for scoring, though, netting just four points. Instead, that was handled by “usual suspect” Dylan Kuehl, who led all players with 19 points as he made a pair of 3-pointers and was 5 of 5 on free throws, adding in five rebounds and a game-high two blocked shots.

Teammate Cal Klesmit pumped in 17 points, hitting 4 of 8 on triples and 3 of 4 free throws while grabbing four rebounds and making a game-high six assists.

And NMU’s Jackson Dudek contributed 13 points, hitting a 3, making three rebounds and not turning the ball over in 23 minutes court time.

Bennett Basich just missed double figures with eight points, but did pull in seven rebounds while making five assists.

Carlos Paul III paced the Warriors (11-10, 8-7 GLIAC) with 17 points.

In the feeling-out process of the game’s first nine minutes, the lead changed hands nine times, not to mention five ties sneaking in there.

But when Klesmit hit a jumper with 11:29 left in the first half, it gave Northern a 20-18 lead it wouldn’t let go of.

It came early in a Wildcats’ 14-4 run that produced a 31-22 lead with 8:57 left in the half after Klesmit sank a 3.

The lead continued to grow until NMU had built a 22-point cushion, 51-29, at halftime.

While its advantage would never get that big again, Northern kept a double-digit lead throughout the second half. It was whittled down to 11 at one point, 60-49, but also grew back to 20 again twice in the final three minutes, including for the final score when St. Ignace graduate Jonny Ingalls scored on a tip-in with 32 seconds remaining.

The Wildcats get what might look like another easy hike at 4 p.m. EST today, playing in Hammond, Indiana, against Purdue Northwest (6-9 GLIAC). But the Pride took MTU to the end before losing by just two points on Thursday night.

And NMU gets a rematch with the Huskies at Vandament Arena at 7:30 p.m. Thursday after losing to Tech 84-75 in Houghton on Jan. 8.

NMU 82, Wayne St. 62

Thursday at Detroit

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Kuehl 6-5-19, Klesmit 5-3-17, Dudek 5-2-13, Basich 3-2-8, Polite 2-0-4, Privet 4-1-9, Miller 2-0-6, Hinson 1-1-4, Ingalls 1-0-2. Totals 29-14-82.

WAYNE STATE — Paul 6-5-17, Briggs 5-0-12, Thorn 3-2-8, Jenkins 2-2-6, Nweke 2-0-4, Belle 4-0-8, Brantley 1-0-3, Ayrault 1-0-2, Esman 1-0-2. Totals 25-9-62.

Halftime score: NMU 51-29

FG shooting: NMU 29 of 62 (46.8 percent), Wayne State 25 of 54 (46.3 percent); 3-point shooting: NMU 10 of 30 (33.3 percent), Wayne State 3 of 13 (23.1 percent); FT shooting: NMU 14 of 18 (77.8 percent), Wayne State 9 of 13 (69.2 percent); Rebounding, NMU 41 (Trevor Polite 8), Wayne State 25 (Carlos Paul III 4); Assists, NMU 20 (Cal Klesmit 6), Wayne State 15 (Jalen Jenkins 5); Steals, NMU 5 (Charlie Miller 2), Wayne State 3 (3 players with 1 each); Turnovers, NMU 6, Wayne State 7.

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.