Men's Basketball Earns 78-71 Overtime Win Over Saginaw Valley State

The Northwood University men's basketball team earned a 78-71 overtime win over rival Saginaw Valley State Saturday night (February 2).

The Timberwolves improve to 8-11 overall, 7-8 in the GLIAC.  SVSU falls to 8-10 overall, 6-9 in the GLIAC.

Northwood led for the majority of the opening half, going up by as many as 11 points in the opening 20 minutes.  NU eventually took a 35-30 lead to the locker room, thanks in large part to the Timberwolves' 3-point shooting.  Northwood connected on their first five triples and ended the half 8-13 from beyond the arc.

SVSU was the better team in the opening 10 minutes after halftime, out-scoring Northwood 23-11 to start the second half.  The Timberwolves came back, eventually taking the lead 66-64 with 35 seconds remaining.  After Saginaw Valley tied the game, Northwood missed a triple at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.

The Timberwolves scored the first four points of overtime and would not trail the rest of the way.NU led by seven on two separate occasions in the extra frame.

For the game, Northwood finished at 45.8 percent from the floor (27-59) and 47.4 percent from 3-point range (9-19). SVSU ended the game at 36.5 percent overall (23-63) and 42.9 percent from 3-point range (9-21).  NU finished the game with a 46-31 advantage on the glass.

Will Bowles (East Detroit, Mich./South Lake) and Darvin Ham (Saginaw, Mich./Bridgeport) led the way for the Timberwolves.  Bowles finished with team-highs in both points (22) and rebounds (18).  Ham added a season-high 19 points, going 5-8 from the floor and 3-4 from 3-point range.

Northwood will host Wayne State Thursday night (February 7).  Game time is set for 6 p.m.