Northern Michigan University’s Dylan Kuehl, center, gets double teamed by Grand Valley State’s Ethan Alderink, left, and Trevor Smith as Kuehl brings the ball across midcourt during the GLIAC Tournament championship game played at Vandament Arena in Marquette on March 8. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

NORTH CANTON, Ohio — The men’s basketball team at Northern Michigan University wasn’t able to keep up their end of the bargain to make the Midwest Regional championship game an all-Upper Peninsula final.

The Wildcats bowed out of the NCAA Division II Tournament in the semifinals of the Midwest Region, losing to regional host and No. 1 seed Walsh 86-68 on Sunday evening.

With No. 5 seed NMU out, No. 3 Michigan Tech continued on to the final, holding off Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rival and No. 2 seed Grand Valley State 69-67 in Sunday’s earlier semifinal.

The Huskies (28-6) were facing Walsh (29-3) on Tuesday night for the regional title and a ticket to the NCAA Elite Eight.

In Northern’s game, the Cavaliers took the lead for good less than four minutes in, then built a double-digit lead about 10 minutes later that NMU was only able to dig into a few times in the second half.

“(Walsh’s) second group’s energy got us, and they took advantage of us,” Wildcats head coach Matt Majkrzak said in an NMU Sports Information news release about the game.

The Wildcats finish their season at 28-7, the most wins in program history after their fourth straight NCAA tourney appearance, though this year was only the second time in that span they managed a win in the Midwest Regional.

GLIAC Player of the Year and GLIAC Defensive Player of the Year Dylan Kuehl led NMU with 19 points, though he was only 0 of 3 on 3-pointers, adding in six rebounds and three assists.

Teammate Bennett Basich added 15 points, while Cal Klesmit had 10 points, hitting three triples.

This is an abridged version of a story that ran in The Journal’s online edition on Tuesday. 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.