MARQUETTE, Mich. â€Â“ The Northern Michigan Universitymenâ€Â™s basketball team shot 50 percent from the floor (17-34) for the first halfand held on to defeat the Wayne State Warriors on Saturday afternoon at theBerry Events Center, 72-67.  NMU is now 9-8 overall on the season and 5-3 inthe Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).  WSU falls to 7-9and 2-6 respectively.

About half way through the first half the â€Â˜Cats werecruising when Nick Buck sank a three-pointer to give the home team a 26-13cushion.  NMU would build upon the lead when David Noel made a three-point playwith 5:19 left in the half (37-20).  Will Washington gave the â€Â˜Cats a 17-pointlead at the intermission when he made the final basket of the half, which was athree. 

The second 20 minutes of action had the â€Â˜Cats rolling forthe first nine minutes or so.  Buck drained another three-pointer to make thescore 54-35 with 12:26 left in the game.  Buck ended the game with threebaskets from beyond the arc.  The Warriors chipped away at the lead until theyhad it down to nine points with a little over four minutes left in the game. Noel answered with a lay-up before Ricky Volcy made both of his free throws tohold off the Warriors.  With less than a minute left in the game, the Warriorsmade two free throws and two three-pointers for the final margin.

Four NMU players were in double-digits in the pointâ€Â™scolumn.  R. Volcy led the way with a game-high 22 points.  Washington and MarcoVolcy both had 13 points.  Buck ended the game with 10 points and sevenrebounds.  Noel and R. Volcy each had four assists.

NMU was 26-55 from the floor for the game for 47.3 percentthat included 9-21 from the three-point line (42.9 percent).  The â€Â˜Cats were11-17 from the free throw line for 64.7 percent.  Rebounds were even at 28 foreach side.  NMU did have 17 steals on the day.

The â€Â˜Cats are back in action again on Sunday (Jan. 22)against Hillsdale College at the Berry Events Center.