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Wildcat men win with scoring balance

NORTH CANTON, Ohio – Balanced scoring, including from off the bench, keyed Northern Michigan University as the Wildcat men held off a late charge by Walsh University for a 70-61 victory in the GLIAC opener for both teams on Thursday night.

Six players scored between 8 and 11 points for NMU (3-4 overall), led by freshman guard Jordan Perez and sophomore guard Marcus Hall with 11 points apiece. Perez made 3 of 4 3-pointers for most of his scoring.

NMU’s bench outscored Walsh’s, 37-5.

Northern sophomore forward Brett Branstrom, a Mid Peninsula product, and junior guard Terry Nash scored 10 points apiece, while junior guard Ethan Blackwell added nine and freshman forward Alex Sorenson eight.

Nash also pulled down seven rebounds and had six assists, while Branstrom had six rebounds. Senior forward Chavis Mattison lead Northern rebounders with eight.

Trey Fletcher paced Walsh (4-1) with 20 points, while Jeff Copeland added 19 and Davonte Beard 13.

Perez hit a 3-point jumper with 15:17 left in the first half, giving Northern a 10-8 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

But despite falling behind 38-24 at halftime and by as many as 16 points early in the second half, the Cavaliers didn’t go away quietly on their home floor.

Northern saw its lead sliced to three, 56-53, with 6:02 left as Walsh made it a three-point game twice more down the stretch.

The final time was at 64-61 before Nash made a layup with 46 seconds remaining and Branstrom a layup five seconds later to up the Wildcats’ lead to 68-61.

Northern continues its Ohio trip with a game against Malone University in Canton at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.

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