MARQUETTE — When two basketball rivals hit the floor, the odds are good that the outcome is going to come down to the final couple minutes.

That was the case for Northern Michigan University and Michigan Tech men’s teams Tuesday night as the back-and-forth affair went down to the wire before two key baskets from Negaunee native Trent Bell gave the Huskies a six-point lead with just over a minute left and Tech prevailed 61-52. Dolapo Olayinka led the Wildcats with 20 points, while Owen White led the Huskies with 18 and Bell had 15.

Six straight points from North Central alum Dawson Bilski put Tech up 41-35 with 12:33 remaining in the second half, but NMU wouldn’t go away. A basket from Ben Wolf, two free throws from Carson Smith and a trey from Olayinka gave the Wildcats a 47-43 lead with 8:56 remaining. The two teams traded baskets before Tech started to take control. A hook shot from White put the Huskies up by two at 54-52 with 2:35 remaining and Bilski fed Bell in the lane to extend the lead to four. A Bell layup brought the advantage to 58-52 with 1:11 left and Tech made its free throws down the stretch to clinch the win.

The Wildcats got off to a good start, getting three straight buckets to open the first half. An Olayinka layup made it 10-2 NMU with 15:58 left, but Tech rallied to take the lead at 13-12 on a 3-pointer from Bell. Northern answered back with a jumper by Sam Schultz and later, a seven-point surge that included a nice steal and layup from Smith put the Wildcats up 21-15 with 6:41 remaining. The Huskies chipped away at their deficit again though, tying it twice, the second time with 51 seconds left on a layup from Bell.

However, Olayinka hit a jumper with 32 seconds remaining and a free throw by Noah Parcher before the buzzer gave the ‘Cats a 29-26 advantage at the half.

NMU hosts Lake Superior State this weekend.

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.