Mattison sparks Wildcats

MARQUETTE Northern Michigan University men’s basketball team needed overtime to do it, but came away with an 88-79 victory over visiting Northwood in GLIAC play Saturday.

The Wildcats outscored the Timberwolves 18-9 in the extra period for the victory.

Senior forward Chavis Mattison led NMU with his second consecutive double-double, scoring a game-high 28 points to go with 10 rebounds.

After a 4-4 start, NMU (7-13, 5-9 GLIAC) went on a 19-9 run to take a double-digit lead over Northwood at 23-13 and 8:33 remaining in the first half.

Northern was able to maintain a significant lead at the half with a score of 40-33.

The Wildcats finished the half shooting 15-22 (.682) from the field and 5-9 (.556) from behind the 3-point line.

Northwood managed to score 13 points off 11 NMU turnovers while not committing a turnover themselves in the half.

The Timberwolves managed to slowly chip away at NMU’s lead and eventually tied the game at 51-51 with 11:23 remaining.

The game later saw three ties before Northwood possessed the ball with only three seconds left and a 70-70 score. A desperation 3-pointer from NU was off the mark, forcing the overtime.

NMU scored the first seven points of the extra session, with Mattison recording four points and an assist off a triple from freshman guard Jordan Perez for the early lead.

The Wildcats built their lead to as large as 11 on two occasions, with the last occurring with 42 seconds left to play and an 85-74 score.

Perez followed Mattison with 16 points, while freshman forward Alex Sorenson chipped in 13 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.

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.