UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team battled back from an 18-point deficit to tie the game in the closing seconds, before suffering a 79-75 defeat to Northern Michigan on Thursday night.
Toodles Seal led the way for the Cardinals (13-12, 6-10 GLIAC) with 17 points and 10 rebounds to complete his second double-double of the season.
The game got off to a slow start in the opening 10 minutes of play as the score sat at 13-12 in favor of NMU with 10:49 left in the first half. The Wildcats pulled away with nine straight points before a media timeout to earn the first double-digit lead (25-14) of the contest with 7:59 on the clock. From there, the lead grew to its peak of 43-25 as Northern Michigan went 8-12 from beyond the arc in the first half.
SVSU tightened up on defense in the second half and held NMU scoreless (0-8) from three-point territory in the final 20 minutes of play. Saginaw Valley trimmed the lead to six with a 10-0 run in the first five minutes of the second session. Kevonne Taylor sparked the run with a layup in the first 52 seconds of play. Tre Garrett added four free throws and a jumper. Seal made a bucket toward the 10 points as well. The Wildcats were able to regain a 10-point advantage at the 11:45 mark, but the Cardinal defense gathered enough stops to trim away at the lead.
Maurice Anderson hit one of his two three-point jumpers to cut the lead to seven and the game would remain close throughout the rest of the game. Northern Michigan moved up by nine points until an 8-2 run by SVSU put the score at 71-68 with 2:03 remaining in regulation. McIntosh hit a layup after an NMU bucket separated the teams by five points. Anderson then hit the dagger from deep on a second-chance opportunity that gave the game its first tie, 73-73 with 35 ticks left on the clock.
A jumper by the Wildcats on the next possession followed by a missed layup by SVSU forced the Cardinals to foul and Northern made its free throws down the stretch to hold on for the close win.
Garrett was the leading scorer for SVSU with 19 points on 5-10 shooting from the floor. The Saginaw, Michigan product also led defensively, tying his career high in steals with seven, while pulling down six rebounds as well. Freddie McIntosh finished with 17 points and five rebounds. Anderson added 12 points to the losing effort.
UP NEXT
SVSU will remain at home for the final two games of the regular season. The next contest will happen this Saturday, February 24, when Michigan Tech tips things off at 3:00 p.m., EST.
