Wildcats defeat Parkside; share GLIAC regular season championship with Michigan Tech
MARQUETTE, Mich. – The nets came down, the crowd stayed standing and a championship banner was secured once again inside the Vandament Arena on Saturday afternoon.
For the fourth consecutive season, the Northern Michigan Wildcats are GLIAC champions, claiming a share of the 2025-26 regular-season title with a commanding, wire-to-wire 98-75 victory over the Parkside Rangers.
NMU previously won the regular season title in 2023-24 and the GLIAC Tournament championship in 2022-23 and 2024-25.
With the win, the No. 18 Wildcats close the regular season 26-5 overall, the most wins in program history. NMU closed conference play at 16-4 and shares the league title with Michigan Tech, but earns the No. 1 seed in next week’s GLIAC Tournament via tiebreakers.
The championship performance was fueled by one of the most electrifying outings in program history. Kuehl delivered a career-high 41 points on 15-20 (75.0%) shooting, finishing with nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks. His 41 points mark the 17th 40-point game in program history and capped a senior day performance that brought the home crowd to its feet time and time again.
Kuehl also erupted for five dunks, all coming in highlight variety including a Euro-step slam late in the first half.
Bennett Basich added 14 points and Brooks Hinson scored 11 as Northern shot 58.5% from the field and a perfect 11-11 from the free throw line. The Wildcats dominated the glass 35-22 and controlled every phase of the game, leading in points off turnovers (23-5), points in the paint (46-32) and second-chance points (21-1).
When the final horn sounded, head coach Matt Majkrzak addressed the crowd, thanking the fans, band and cheerleaders for their role in another championship for Marquette.
The ladder was then brought out to cut down the nets while fans remained to celebrate the title.
The title marks the fourth GLIAC championship under Majkrzak, who has guided the program to national prominence with a 133-71 record in seven seasons and four trophies brought home to Marquette.
How it Happened
Northern Michigan struck first with a deep three from Dylan Kuehl, then he detonated at the rim on the next trip for an early lead. He scored NMU’s first eight points as the tempo surged and the Wildcats jumped ahead 12-7. Offenses traded punches from there, but Northern held a 26-22 edge midway through the half.
Northern created separation to go up 39-29 with four minutes left. Kuehl brought the crowd up with an emphatic putback dunk, already up to 22 first-half points. Parkside hit a buzzer-beating three, but NMU still carried a 50-39 lead into the break after shooting 61.3%, the second-straight game Northern reached 50 at halftime.
Kuehl came out of halftime on fire, drilling back-to-back threes and then hammering home his fourth dunk of the night. The surge pushed NMU to a 60-47 lead at the first media timeout. Moments later he delivered a poster reverse dunk, then buried another three to set a career high of 37 and make it 70-52.
Northern’s defense fed the frenzy with stops that sparked a 7-0 run and a 77-55 cushion midway through the half. Kuehl kept the pressure on with one more bucket to break 40 for the first time in his career.
With momentum fully in hand, Northern controlled the final minutes on their way to a GLIAC Championship.
GLIAC Tournament
No. 1 Northern Michigan vs. No. 8 Ferris State
No. 2 Michigan Tech vs. No. 7 Davenport
No. 3 Grand Valley State vs. No. 6 Wayne State
No. 4 Lake Superior State vs. No. 5 Purdue Northwest
Up Next
The Wildcats are the No. 1 seed in the GLIAC Tournament and will host No. 8 Ferris State on Wednesday, March 4, at 7:30 p.m.
