Men's Basketball Defeats No. 8 Findlay 86-69

The Northwood University men's basketball team earned an impressive 86-69 win over No. 8 Findlay Saturday afternoon (December 7).

The Timberwolves have now won five straight to stand at 6-2 overall, 2-0 in the GLIAC.  The Oilers fall to 4-1 overall, 1-1 in the GLIAC.

Northwood got off to a tremendous start in the game, scoring the first 10 points of the game to take a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the day. The Timberwolves led by as many as 12 before a late Findlay rally cut the NU margin to 45-40 at the break. Both teams shot well in the half – NU finished at 51.9 percent (14-27) while Findlay connected on 16-29 attempts (55.2 percent).  Northwood earned the lead thanks to going 8-14 from 3-point range, compared to Findlay at 1-7.

Findlay cut the lead down to three early in the second half but Northwood controlled the play the rest of the way.  The Oilers got no closer than nine points in the final 10 minutes.  NU's defense after the break was key, holding the high-powered Findlay offense to 21.2 percent from the floor (7-33) and 11.1 percent from 3-point range (1-11).

For the game, Northwood finished at 46.4 percent from the floor (26-56) while Findlay shot 37.1 percent (23-62). The 3-point line was the key to the game, as Northwood went 9-21 overall (42.9 percent) while Findlay finished 3-25 (12.0 percent). Northwood also did a great job defensively on the GLIAC Preseason Player of the Year, Greg Kahling. The senior forward entered the game averaging over 23 points per game, but finished the day with nine points while going 2-16 from the floor.

Four Timberwolves finished the game in double figures, led by Darvin Ham (Saginaw, Mich./Bridgeport). He finished with 21 points and nine rebounds. Dylan Langkabel (Morristown, Ind.) and Wes Wilcox (Roselle, Ill./Harper)  each finished with 17 points, while sophomore guard Khalid King (Columbus, Ohio/North Carolina A&T) added a career-high 16 points.

Northwood will travel to Walsh Thursday night (December 12). Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.