MARQUETTE – Ashland University was too much for the Northern Michigan University men’s basketball team to handle on Thursday evening and the Wildcats were dealt at 65-52 loss at the Berry Events Center.

The key to the game was bench scoring as the Eagles outscored the Wildcats 39-2 in that category.

Ashland also held a 38-22 rebounding advantage.

NMU slips to 5-8 overall and 3-4 in the GLIAC North Division, while Ashland is now 10-3 overall and 4-3 in the GLIAC South.

After NMU’s Alex Sorenson hit a jump shot to put the Wildcats up 12-10 in the first half, Ashland quickly snatched the lead away and didn’t trail again.

The Eagles upped their first-half lead to as many as eight points, but Northern pulled to within 30-25 by halftime.

NMU quickly cut that deficit to a single point 1:02 into the second half when senior forward Chavis Mattison made a layup and sophomore guard Marcus Hall hit a jumper to make it 30-29.

But Ashland responded with a 12-3 run to go up 42-32 with 12:18 left.

Mattison scored 12 points and freshman Jordan Perez 11 to lead Northern, while senior guard Terry Nash contributed nine points, six assists and two steals.

Ashland’s Jett Speelman led all scorers with 15 points.

NMU hosts Lake Erie College at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Berry Events Center.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ryan Stieg. He can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 246. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal. net.