The Wildcats pulled off a 79-67 victory over Lake Superior State in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament game to advance to Sunday’s championship.

The winner of that game would be receiving the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II tournament, with the loser plus Michigan Tech waiting on the sidelines for the NCAA to issue at-large invitations.

On Saturday, forward Dylan Kuehl put up another stellar performance to lead NMU, scoring 25 points that included a pair of 3-pointers and 5 of 5 at the free throw line. He added in game highs of 11 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots, the blocks more than all other players on both teams combined.

Sam Privet added 11 points and Cal Klesmit and Brooks Hinson 10 each for Northern, which as the No. 1 seed in this tournament improved to 27-5, a program record for wins in a season.

Northern Michigan University’s Jackson Dudek, right, drives the baseline before meeting Lake Superior State defender Peter Nwoke, but Dudek is able to get off his shot during their GLIAC Tournament semifinal game played at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Klesmit hit a pair of 3s and pulled down five rebounds, while Hinson also hit a pair of triples while making 4 of 4 free throws and getting four rebounds.

Teammate Jackson Dudek added to a seven-point afternoon with eight rebounds, while Charlie Miller had three assists to go with six points, and Bennett Basich six rebounds along with five points.

Nino Carter-Smith paced tourney No. 4 seed Lake State (19-12) with 18 points as Omar Suleiman had 16, each making a trio of 3s.

Northern held the lead for much of the early going, though the Lakers took a lead of as many as four points, 25-21, after Carter-Smith made a layup with 6:14 left in the first half.

After exchanging the lead several times, the Wildcats went into halftime with a 38-30 lead following a 10-0 run to end the half, NMU getting a dunk from Kuehl, layup and 3 from Basich, and triple by Hinson two seconds before the buzzer signaling intermission.

While Northern kept the lead throughout the final 20 minutes, it yo-yoed from a single-possession advantage up to 14 points.

NMU extended its scoring string at the end of the first half to 13 straight points after Klesmit nailed a 3 just 45 seconds in, but in less than a minute, the Lakers shaved it back to three, 41-38, after a Harrison Sorrelle triple.

LSSU also whittled its disadvantage to two points twice, 45-43 with 14:44 left and 58-56 with 8:40 to go.

But after the second instance of cutting it close, the Wildcats went on a 13-2 run to get it back to double digits, 69-58, with 3:40 remaining after a pair of Privet free throws.

After that, Lake State never got closer than eight as Northern was able to break an LSSU pressure defense on multiple occasions.

NMU 79, Lake Superior St. 67

GLIAC Tournament semifinals

Saturday at Vandament Arena

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

LAKE SUPERIOR STATE — Carter-Smith 6-3-18, Suleiman 6-1-16, Sorrelle 2-2-8, Jamison 3-2-8, Richards 1-0-2, Krzesowiak 2-2-7, Nwoke 3-0-6, Hess 0-2-2. Totals 23-12-67.

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Kuehl 9-5-25, Privet 4-2-11, Klesmit 4-0-10, Dudek 3-1-7, Basich 2-0-5, Hinson 2-4-10, Miller 1-3-6, Polite 2-0-5. Totals 27-15-79.

Halftime score: NMU 38-30

FG shooting: Lake Superior State 23 of 61 (37.7 percent), NMU 27 of 60 (45 percent); 3-point shooting: Lake Superior State 9 of 26 (34.6 percent), NMU 10 of 26 (38.5 percent); FT shooting: Lake Superior State 12 of 20 (60 percent), NMU 15 of 15 (100 percent); Rebounding, Lake Superior State 31 (Peter Nwoke 9), NMU 45 (Dylan Kuehl 11); Assists, Lake Superior State 10 (Nino Carter-Smith 3), NMU 13 (Kuehl 5); Steals, Lake Superior State 9 (Carter-Smith 5), NMU 1 (Charlie Miller 1); Turnovers, Lake Superior State 5, NMU 12.

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.