BIG RAPIDS – Senior forward Chavis Mattison recorded his fifth straight double-double, but it was his final two plays that made the biggest difference for the Northern Michigan University men’s basketball team on Saturday afternoon.

Finishing the day with 20 points and 11 rebounds, Mattison assisted on freshman Alex Sorenson’s game-tying jumper with 1:15 left, then made the game-winning layup with five seconds to go in NMU’s 73-71 upset at Ferris State, the country’s No. 17 team in NCAA Division II.

The Bulldogs’ Drew Lehman tried a 3-point desperation shot with two seconds to go, but it missed and Ferris was unable to get off another shot after gathering in the offensive rebound.

With a win over second-year head coach Bill Sall’s former team, NMU improved to 9-14 overall and 7-10 in the GLIAC North Division while Ferris slipped to 18-5 and 14-3.

Though Northern led throughout the first half, including 40-35 at halftime, the Bulldogs took a 44-42 advantage with 17:44 left when Josh Fleming made a layup.

Though they never led by more than six points, Ferris would keep that lead for more than eight minutes until ‘Cats’ sophomore guard Marcus Hall hit a jumper to tie it 58-58 with 9:02 to go.

After that, the teams traded the lead five times, including when Mattison put NMU ahead 69-68 with 2:52 left on a jump shot. Lehman answered with an “and-one” three-point play with 1:43 to go, making it 71-69 Ferris before Northern’s final two shots first tied then won it. A Ferris turnover after Sorenson’s shot helped set up Mattison for the game-winner.

While Mattison added eight assists and two steals to his final line, Hall matched Mattison in the scoring column with 20 points, including a 4-of-6 day from 3-point land and 4 of 4 on deuces.

Freshman Jordan Perez had 12 points and three assists, while freshman forward Cooper Radtke had eight points and four rebounds.

NMU shot a blistering 59 percent from the field (29 of 49), including 7 of 12 on 3s (58 percent). The Wildcats also outbounded Ferris 32-27, but turned the ball over 14 times, six more than the Bulldogs.

Northern returns home to the Berry Events Center this week, facing Saginaw Valley State at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Hillsdale at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee.