Jackson Dudek leads Wildcats with 19 points
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The Northern Michigan men’s basketball team opened the Puerto Rico Clasico with a commanding 85-47 victory over Interamericana on Thursday night.
NMU dominated the glass 46-16 and offensive boards 13-2, leading to a 17-2 edge in second chance points. With such command on the glass, eight Wildcats grabbed at least three rebounds, while no one from Interamericana managed more than two.
The Wildcats shot 30-63 (47.6%) overall and 11-30 (36.7%) form beyond the arc. Northern was lock down on defense as they’ve been early this season. The Tigres were 15-51 (29.4%) from the field and 3-25 (12.0%) from three. NMU’s points allowed per game dropped below 60 to 59.1.
Interamericana got off to a good start with the first three points and a 13-12 edge just over six minutes in, but the Wildcats started to get hot to reclaim the advantage. Cal Klesmit knocked down a pair of threes and a key 13-0 run late in the first half had Northern in front 39-24 at the break.
Charlie Miller and Jackson Dudek each hit a three early in the second half in an 8-0 run to build a sizable 51-30 lead. Another 12-0 came in the middle stages of the half to stretch the lead over 30 and the ‘Cats didn’t look back from there, getting 16 guys on the court, with no one playing over 22 minutes.
Dudek led the way with 19 points, going a near-perfect 8-9 from the floor and hitting both of his shots from three. Klesmit added a dozen and Brooks Hinson also reached double figures with 11. Isaiah Allen and Ross Robertson each went 4-5 from the field for eight points and Keller Hanson hit each of his triple attempts for six points.
Dylan Kuehl led NMU with eight rebounds and eight assists. Cristopher Soto led Interamericana with 10 points.
Now at 9-1 on the season, the Wildcats are off to their best start through 10 games in recent history.
Up Next
Northern will take on UPR Rio Piedras on Friday at 7 p.m. EST in its second of three games in Puerto Rico.
