Northwood comes away with 94-85 victory
MIDLAND -- The Northwood University men's basketball team earned a dramatic 94-85 double overtime victory over Wayne State Wednesday night (December 9).
Northwood is now 4-1 overall, 2-1 in the GLIAC. Wayne State stands at 4-2, 2-1 in the GLIAC.
The Warriors jumped out to a quick lead, going up 12-2 less than four minutes into the game. Northwood chipped away at the lead, eventually tying the game 30-30 with 2:24 remaining in the half. Wayne State ended up taking a 37-34 lead at the break.
The second half was close throughout, with neither team leading by more than five points. The Warriors led 64-61in the waning moments when Dorian Pierce (Jackson, Mich.) tracked down a missed shot and fired a triple at the buzzer. The shot rattled around the rim before falling, sending the game to overtime.
In the first overtime, it was Wayne State's turn to put an offensive rebound in to force extra time. NU led 74-72 with less than 10 seconds remaining, but a tip-in of a WSU missed shot sent the game to a second overtime.
Northwood's offense took over in the second overtime frame, scoring 20 points in five minutes. Overall for the two overtimes, the Timberwolves went 7-10 from the floor and 15-15 from the foul line.
Two Northwood players finished with more than 30 points, led by Pierce with 35. He went 12-20 from the floor and grabbed five rebounds. Lionel Sullivan (Detroit, Mich./DePorres) finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Sullivan went 7-13 from the floor and connected on 15-20 from the foul line.
Chris Johnson (Belleville, Mich.) added 18 points for Northwood, going 12-12 from the foul line.
Northwood will host Michigan Tech next Thursday (December 17) at 8 p.m.
