MARQUETTE, Mich. – Playing its first game in 19 days, the Purdue Northwest men's basketball team suffered a 90-59 defeat to Northern Michigan on Thursday night inside the Berry Events Center.

HEAD COACH BOOMER ROBERTS:
"We had a great start, but we didn't execute on either end for the remainder of the game. They had some guys step up their games, and we didn't match it. Credit to them for being ready to compete at a higher level."
 
How it happened: PNW (3-10, 0-5 GLIAC) led by as much nine after racing out to an 11-2 lead in the early going. The Pride showed no signs of rust as they controlled the contest for the opening seven-plus minutes and buried seven of their first nine shot attempts. Freshman forward Songalay Njie, who made his first start, and junior guard Mikell Cooper (Milwaukee, Wis./Bradley Tech) got the scoring started with four points, apiece.
 
However, Northern Michigan would claw back to claim its first lead at the 12:35 mark and then the Wildcats caught fire. NMU would build up a 19-4 run to lead by double digits as the hosts eventually gained a 20-point advantage at halftime, 49-29. PNW closed out the opening period by shooting 5 of 20 (25%) after its hot start.
 
NMU (5-7, 1-4 GLIAC) carried the momentum into the second half and pulled away from the Pride. The Wildcats shot 51.4% overall from the field while PNW finished with a 35% overall shooting clip. NMU registered a 44-30 advantage in rebounding. A highlight for the Pride was another solid outing at the free-throw line where PNW finished 15 for 20 (75%) for the second straight game.
 
Njie led the way for PNW with a career-high 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting to with five rebounds. Junior forward Anthony Barnard (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) recorded 11 points while Cooper finished with 10. Sophomore Caleb Zurliene (Breese, Ill./Mater Dei) finished with a team-high seven rebounds.
 
NMU's Nick Wagner scored a game-high 19 points and led five players in double figures for the Wildcats.
 
Thursday night's game was the first meeting between these two teams since PNW pulled out an overtime win over NMU on Feb. 8, 2020.
 
UP NEXT
PNW travels to Michigan Tech for Saturday's conference matchup. Tipoff in Houghton, Mich. has been adjusted to 12 p.m. CST.

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