Men's Basketball Loses Exhibition Opener At Miami (OH) 76-71

The Northwood University men's basketball team opened their 2013-14 season with a 76-71 loss at Miami (OH) in an exhibition contest Wednesday night (October 30).

Miami led for the final 19:12 of the opening half, but never by more than nine points.  The RedHawks eventually took a 38-31 lead at halftime.  Northwood trailed by just seven at the break despite shooting just 26.2 percent from the floor (11-42) and 12.5 percent from 3-point range (2-16). Wes Wilcox (Roselle, Ill./Harper) led all scorers in the opening half with 11 points.

Miami was the better team for the majority of the second half, leading 75-57 with 3:13 remaining. But after struggling with their shooting for most of the game, Northwood's offense came to life in the final minutes. The Timberwolves made five of their final seven shots and connected on four free throws, allowing Northwood to score 14 of the final 15 points of the game to make the final score 76-71.

Shooting proved to be the key to the game for Miami.  Northwood finished the game with a 50-48 edge in rebounding and committed five fewer turnovers than the RedHawks (16-11), but NU finished the game shooting 30.4 percent from the floor (24-79).  Miami finished at 43.9 percent (29-66).

Northwood had two players finish with double-doubles.  Darvin Ham (Saginaw, Mich./Bridgeport) led the Timberwolves with 15 points while grabbing 10 rebounds.  Will Bowles (East Detroit, Mich./South Lake) added 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.  Wilcox finished with 13 points.

Northwood will finish the exhibition season with a game at Illinois Sunday (November 3). Game time is set for 6 p.m.