PNW Men’s Basketball Drops 90-74 Road Contest to Northern Michigan
MARQUETTE, Mich. – Senior Torrance Johnson (Chicago Heights, Ill./Chicago Hope Academy) had another big game for the Purdue University Northwest men’s basketball team, as he neared a double-double, leading the Pride with 20 points and pulling down nine rebounds, but the Pride dropped the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) game to Northern Michigan University, 90-74, Thursday evening at the Berry Events Center in Marquette, Mich.
Senior Tyree Coe (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) scored 17 points in the game, while freshman Richard Robertson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) added 15 points and Jai Wright (Richmond, Ind./Richmond) added three 3-pointers and 12 total points off the bench for PNW in the setback.
Back-to-back buckets by Chris Nunn (Anderson, Ind./Liberty Christian) and Coe opened the scoring to give the Pride a 4-0 lead to start the game. However, the Wildcats stormed back with a 14-4 run and took a 14-8 lead with 13:47 left to play in the first half. NMU caught fire from beyond the three-point arc as the Wildcats had back-to-back threes to give them a 23-14 lead with 8:01 left.
Coe answered with a three of his own to stop the small run by NMU, however the Wildcats answered right back with another run by scoring the next five points to give them a 28-17 lead with 4:42 left to go.
NMU pushed its lead up to 17 with a lay-up with 23 seconds then Robertson answered for the Pride with a jump shot with three seconds left and PNW went into the half with a 41-26 deficit.
PNW made a 7-0 run in the second half to cut it to 46-35 with 15:44 left to go, but couldn’t get with in 10 points the rest of the game. The Wildcats found their spot again from behind the arc with back-to-back threes and a pair of free-throws to go up by 18 with 10:06 left in the game.
Wright nailed a three of his own with 9:07 left but NMU had the answer with a lay-up.
PNW shot 63 percent in the second half, but it wasn’t enough as the Wildcats pulled away for the 90-74 victory.
Purdue Northwest (1-20, 1-12 GLIAC) returns to action Saturday, Feb. 3 as the Pride travel to Houghton, Mich. to take on Michigan Tech University in a GLIAC match-up. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.
