Men's Basketball Downs Northern Michigan 68-67

The Northwood University men's basketball team defeats Northern Michigan in a dramatic 68-67 win Saturday evening (February 22) for the Timberwolves' final home game.

Northwood goes into the final week of the season 17-12, 13-8 in the GLIAC. Northern falls to 5-20 overall, 4-17 in the GLIAC.

Northwood jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, followed by a 5-0 run by the Wildcats for the game's first tie at 16:19. The opening period saw six tie games and 12 lead changes. The largest lead of the first half was just five points, held by Northwood at the 17:27 mark. Both teams shot well in the opening 40 minutes, as Northwood shot 48.0 percent (12-25) from the floor. Northern Michigan finished 13 of 30 attempts for 43.3 percent.

Northwood led by as many as eight point in the second half, but the Wildcats fought back after every NU run. The Timberwolves trailed 67-66 when Dylan Langkabel (Morristown, Ind.) drove in for a layup to the front of the rim. His basket at 0:28 gave NU the go ahead. Northwood sealed the game with a steal by Tony Johnson (Midland, Mich.) with 0:07 remaining. The Timberwolves overcame an extraordinary outside shooting night from the Wildcats, as NMU converted on 8 of 10 from beyond the arc (80.0 percent) in the second half. 

For the game, Northwood finished shooting 51.0 percent from the floor (25-49) and 29.4 percent (5-17) from the three-point line. Northern Michigan shot 42.4 percent on 25 for 59 and finished shooting 66.7 percent (14-21) from beyond the arc. The Timberwolves were able to hold an advantage in the paint 30-16.

Wes Wilcox (Roselle, Ill. / Harper) led all scorers with 24 points. Will Bowles (East Detroit, Mich.) finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Langkabel came off the bench to score 13 points.

The Timberwolves will play their final game of the regular season at Saginaw Valley State on Thursday (February 27). Tip is scheduled for 8 p.m.