NMU had 12-1 offensive rebound advantage
WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. – The Northern Michigan men’s basketball team defeated Maryville 78-59 in its season opener in which all ten Wildcats scored while the team also held a dominant 47-26 advantage on the glass.
The Wildcats used a key 14-0 run to end the first half and open the second to stretch a one-point lead to 15 and they did not look back from there, leading by as many as 21.
Brian Parzych led the way with 15 points while Dylan Kuehl (14) and Julien Smith (10) also found double figures. Sam Privet added another eight while pacing the dominance on the glass with 11 rebounds. Biggie Luster’s four steals helped lead a 13-6 edge in the category as well.
The Wildcats trailed 10-8 early on when the reserves entered the game and went on an 11-4 run including two buckets from both Derek Merwick and Michael McNabb. The Tritons briefly regained the lead at 27-25, but NMU closed the half with the last seven to lead 38-30 at the break.
Offensive rebounds played a big part in NMU’s first half success, as they pulled down 12 to Maryville’s one.
The Green and Gold continued its run to open the second, scoring the first seven to lead 45-30. NMU scored 18 of the first 23 points in the second half, and totaled a 25-5 run dating back to the first, to lead 56-35 with less than a dozen minutes to go.
Maryville would hang around, but the ‘Cats scored 16 points in the final five minutes, all from Parzych, Kuehl, and Smith as they all reached double figures late. Parzych hit a pair of threes, Smith added another triple, and Kuehl added the cherry on top with a flashy one-handed putback slam to cap off the scoring.
Northern shot 28-65 (43.1%) from the floor while the Tritons were 26-56 (46.4%). Maryville’s Keyyaun Batchman led all scorers with 18 points.
Up Next
Northern will battle Missouri-St. Louis at 8 p.m. on Saturday night in the Dells. The Tritons fell 72-57 to Michigan Tech on Friday.
