MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team fell 81-64 on the road against Northern Michigan on Thursday evening. The Cardinals (11-10, 6-5 GLIAC) slide to 6-5 in conference play with the defeat, tying them with Grand Valley State for fifth in the league standings.

Freddie McIntosh matched his season-high of 26 points to lead SVSU in scoring in the losing effort. The sophomore guard made four shots from beyond the arc as he finished 11-23 from the floor. Jiovanni Miles scored 11 points and Chansey Willis Jr. and Maurice Barnett tallied nine. Tyrik Singh pulled down eight rebounds to lead in that category while Kevonne Taylor registered seven blocks.

McIntosh scored the game's first points as he propelled the Cardinals to a 5-0 lead in the opening minute of play. The Wildcat's responded with an 11-0 run to pull ahead by six with 15:52 on the clock in the first half. The score remained close until a 6-0 run gave Northern Michigan a 23-11 lead with just over eight minutes remaining before the half. Miles hit two threes and McIntosh drilled another in a 9-1 run that brought the deficit to four points (24-20). McIntosh scored five more points and Willis Jr. added two more as the score was tied at 31 with 81 ticks left. The Wildcats made a three in the closing seconds to hold a 36-33 advantage at the intermission.

An 8-0 run by NMU opened the first three minutes of the second half but the Cardinals battled back to cut the margin to five points, 46-41. McIntosh closed the gap to two points with a jumper at 13:30 before a 5-0 run by the Wildcats extended the lead back to seven points. A 9-0 run built a 13-point advantage and proved to be the turning point in the contest.

UP NEXT

The SVSU men's basketball team will remain up north as they face Michigan Tech on Saturday, February 4 with a tip-off time of 3:00 PM. The Huskies and Cardinals met in January with the Cardinals taking the contest in O'Neill Arena with a 69-58 final result.