Late drought costs Wildcat men in loss at the Dells
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WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. -- Coming right down to the wire, the Northern Michigan University men's basketball team was shut out from making a basket in the final two minutes of a 72-69 loss to Lincoln Memorial (Tennessee) to wrap up the Midwest Tip-Off Challenge on Sunday evening.
Playing in this Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association-sponsored event, NMU won its opener over Central Oklahoma on Friday before losing twice, also falling to Harding (Oklahoma) on Saturday.
In Sunday's game featuring 13 lead changes in the second half alone, Northern took its final lead at 68-67 with 2:18 remaining on a pair of free throws by Charlie Miller.
But the Railsplitters turned around as Ryan Nutter sank a 3-pointer with 1:59 left to give LMU a 70-68 advantage.
NMU missed four more shots down the stretch while getting 1 of 2 free throws made by Kyle Olagbegi with 40 seconds to go to pull within a point.
Lincoln Memorial added some insurance with a pair of free throws from Miles Gurske with three seconds remaining, with a final desperation triple taken by Olagbegi at the final buzzer missing that would've sent the game to overtime.
Olagbegi, a senior forward transfer from Indiana-South Bend, led the Wildcats with 15 points, making 5 of 6 free throws, as he also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, dished out four assists and even made two steals.
Teammates Brooks Hinson and Pryce Gregoire added 10 points apiece, Hinson hitting a pair of 3s, pulling down six rebounds and making a team-high five assists. Gregoire contributed eight rebounds and two blocked shots.
Miller added nine points, while George Bellevue had eight to go with seven rebounds.
While the Wildcats controlled the boards with a 43-27 edge in rebounds, they also committed twice as many turnovers, 22-11, as the Railsplitters made 15 steals.
Nutter led Lincoln Memorial scorers with 17 points and also its theft division with four steals.
The Railsplitters controlled most of the first half, building a lead that reached 11 points, 24-13, following a pair of Tyler Lee free throws with 9:10 left before halftime.
But NMU went on a 13-2 run to tie it 26-26 with 4:06 remaining in the first half on a pair of Olagbegi free throws.
Then in the final minute of the half, the Wildcats took their only lead in the first 20 minutes, 36-35, on a 3-pointer by Menominee product Aidan Bellisle.
With the score tied 37-37 at intermission, the lead changed hands five times in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the second half.
It remained a one-possession game until LMU went on an 11-0 spurt in barely more than two minutes that gave it a 56-46 lead with 11:16 to go.
The Wildcats went back to work, whittling its deficit down before retaking the lead, 62-61, with 6:41 remaining on a Bellevue triple.
The game went back to a one-possession contest for every second remaining.
Northern takes nearly two weeks off before returning to the Wisconsin Dells for another four consecutive games spaced over eight days. The first of those is against Missouri-St. Louis at 2 p.m. EST on Friday, Nov. 13.
The Wildcats don't play their first home game in the friendly confines of Vandament Arena until 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 7, as the second half of a women's-men's doubleheader against heated Upper Peninsula rival Michigan Tech.
Lincoln Memorial 72, NMU 69
Sunday at Wisconsin Dells, Wis.
Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)
LINCOLN MEMORIAL -- Nutter 6-3-17, Lee 4-3-12, Gurske 3-3-9, Brooks 3-0-6, Amhad Jarrard 4-4-12, Rubin 2-3-8, Spearman 2-2-7, Savage 0-1-1. Totals 24-19-72.
NORTHERN MICHIGAN -- Olagbegi 5-5-15, Hinson 3-2-10, Gregoire 4-2-10, Miller 3-2-9, Allen 3-0-6, Bellevue 3-0-8, Robertson 2-3-7, Bellisle 1-1-4. Totals 24-15-69.
Halftime score: Tied 37-37
FG shooting: Lincoln Memorial 24 of 56 (42.9 percent), NMU 24 of 54 (44.4 percent); 3-point shooting: Lincoln Memorial 5 of 23 (21.7 percent), NMU 6 of 20 (30 percent); FT shooting: Lincoln Memorial 19 of 32 (59.4 percent), NMU 15 of 19 (78.9 percent); Rebounding, Lincoln Memorial 27 (Miles Gurske and JC Brooks 4 each), NMU 43 (Kyle Olagbegi 11); Assists, Lincoln Memorial 9 (Gurske 6), NMU 15 (Brooks Hinson 5); Steals, Lincoln Memorial 15 (Ryan Nutter 4), NMU 3 (Olagbegi 2); Turnovers, Lincoln Memorial 11, NMU 22.
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Northern Michigan University's Brooks Hinson, right, dribbles around Lincoln Memorial's Miles Gurske, center, as the Wildcats' Ross Robertson sets a pick during their men's basketball game played at the Midwest Tip-Off Challenge played in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, on Sunday. (Photo courtesy NMU)