PURDUE NORTHWEST 65, NORTHERN MICHIGAN 62
The Purdue University Northwest Men's Basketball continued their weekend on the road, facing off against the Northern Michigan Wildcats on Saturday, February 8 in Marquette, Mich. Trailing the Wildcats for most of the game, PNW would surge ahead late in the second half and claim victory in overtime.
HEAR FROM COACH BOOMER ROBERTS
"It is really hard to win in this league, especially on the road on a Saturday," said Roberts. "We've been so close, so to finish it was sweet. NMU is a tough matchup for us, but we held them to 22 points in the second half and only four in overtime after they made some plays to force the extra minutes. We got stop after stop when we needed to. Our guys were tough, physically and mentally, and we needed every little winning play today to get it done.
"Chandler Spring continues to play great off the bench, and Durante Lee and Jyrus Freels answered the call defensively and on the glass. Timothy Gilmore, Xavier Allison, Xavier Hallinan and Gregory Boyle all made big plays. And Anthony Barnard was yet at 100%, but he gave us great minutes defensively.
"We're going to build on this. We've got more work to do, but this was a great win!"
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Pride were slow to get into the action in the first half, trailing by as much as 16 points before rallying and closing that gap at halftime, trailing the Wildcats 36-28. Spring's stellar first-half performance led the charge, collecting 11 points by shooting 4-4 from the field and 3-3 from behind the three-point arc.
PNW would continue to battle through the second half, trailing most of the way until they claimed the lead for the first time at 49-48 with eight minutes remaining in regulation. Trying to trap and generate a turnover, the Wildcats fouled with under 30 seconds on the clock to send Boyle to the line, the Pride up 56-54. Boyle made both attempts, extending the lead to four. NMU's Sam Taylor sunk two free throws of his own with 17 seconds remaining, which was then followed by a traveling call against Allison to force the late-game turnover. NMU would capitalize on the call on a Taylor jumper to tie the score at 58-58, sending the game into overtime.
A full-court press into action by Roberts against the Wildcats throughout the overtime period, which would go scoreless for both sides until a tip-in layup from Lee gave the Pride the lead with two and a half minutes remaining. A Spring layup and-one gave PNW the chance for a three-point play, launching them to a 63-60 lead with little over a minute to play. When the final whistle would play, the Black and Gold would step of the court with a GLIAC victory and a final score of 65-62.
WHO LED THE WAY FOR THE PRIDE
Spring led the Pride with 20 points, shooting 6-8 from the field, 4-6 from downtown, and 4-4 from the free throw line. Gilmore put up 15 points while also collecting four rebounds and an assist.
TEAM STATS
Purdue Northwest ended the afternoon with a shooting percentage of 43% from the field and 47% from three, holding the Wildcats to 27% and 34%, respectively. PNW scored 26 points in the paint and 27 bench points.
WHAT'S NEXT
After today's conference victory, PNW prepares to continue their series on the road by taking on the Wayne State Warriors on Thursday, February 13 in Detroit. This will be the second content between these two programs this season, the first ending with a PNW 84-73 victory in Hammond, Ind on January 18. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. (CST).
