Feb. 1, 2007

Box Score

Marquette, Mich. - The Northern Michigan men's basketball team shot 63 percent in the second half to break open a close game, defeating Mercyhurst 82-69 Thursday. The Wildcats outscored the Lakers 46-37 over the final 20 minutes of action.

Mercyhurst and Northern Michigan battled through five ties and seven lead changes in a see-saw first half but NMU's Will Washington hit one of his six three-pointers late in the half. Tyler Zamierkoski finished the half with a free-throw to five the Wildcats a 36-32 lead at the break.

Mercyhurst closed to within one point on a Terry Smith three-pointer with 15:51 to play and then took its first lead of the second half at 49-48 on a T.J. Mathis three-ball. Mathis followed with a lay-up that put the Lakers ahead 51-48 with 13:29 to go.

But Northern Michigan's sharp-shooting was too much to overcome and the Wildcats took the lead for good on a Chris Warner lay-up with 10:57 to play that gave NMU a 54-53 lead. That bucket started an 11 point run for Northern Michigan and the Lakers were unable to close the gap.

Mathis led Mercyhurst with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Shelby Chaney added 13 points and seven rebounds, while Smith came off the bench to add 13. Mercyhurst's leading scorer Avi Fogel was held in check with just six points on the evening.

Northern Michigan made 12-of-24 three-pointers, including a 6-of-10 performance by Washington, who finished with a game-high 24 points. Mercyhurst committed just 10 turnovers and shot 48 percent from the floor but could not overcome the Wildcats' 56 percent shooting effort and 14-of-17 outing at the charity stripe.

Northern Michigan improves to 13-9 overall and 7-6 in the GLIAC, while Mercyhurst falls to 14-7 and 6-5 in conference. The Lakers, who are now tied for second in the South Divison with Ashland, will play at Michigan Tech Saturday at 3 p.m.