A pair of seniors on the Northern Michigan University men’s basketball team, Max Bjorklund, second from left, and Ben Wolf, second from right, stand with their loved ones and Wildcats head coach Matt Majkrzak, right, on the team’s Senior Day before their game against Purdue Northwest on Saturday at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — Max Bjorklund and Max Weisbrod led a Northern Michigan University parade at the free throw line as the Wildcats slipped past Purdue Northwest 84-78 in a GLIAC men’s basketball game played at the Berry Events Center on Saturday.

The Wildcats not only held their position a half-game out of first place in the league with one week to go, NMU clinched home court in the March 1 first-round quarterfinals of the league tournament.

Though Northern could fall into a three-way tie for third if they lose at Michigan Tech at 3 p.m. Saturday, apparently the tiebreakers work in the Wildcats’ favor so they can’t fall further than the No. 4 seed, according to league standings available online at www.gliac.org.

NMU improved to 20-7 overall and 12-5 in the league, just behind the 12-4 marks posted by Ferris State and Wisconsin-Parkside. Next after the Wildcats are Grand Valley State and Lake Superior State, each at 10-6.

While every other league team plays its usual two games this week, NMU and Tech just play each other to end the regular season.

The Pride slipped to 11-15 overall and 4-12 in the conference, remaining a half-game behind Tech for the final spot in the tourney.

Despite Purdue NW’s modest record, Northern needed all the free throws it could get. The Wildcats made 26 of 31 (84%), including 10 of 10 by Bjorklund and 8 of 9 by Weisbrod. Bjorklund finished with 24 points and Weisbrod 22. Weisbrod also made four 3-pointers and Bjorklund two as each had three assists and Bjorklund also added five rebounds and three steals.

The Wildcats also committed just three turnovers, including none by Bjorklund in 37 minutes court time.

Teammate Dylan Kuehl scored a modest eight points, all coming in the second half, but pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds as NMU held a big 45-31 advantage on the boards. It made up for so-so shooting as the Wildcats made 26 of 68 from the floor (38%) and just 6 of 21 on 3s (29%).

Purdue NW’s Mikell Cooper led all scorers with 30 points as he made 5 of 7 on triples and 7 of 7 on free throws. Despite his free throws, NMU still had an 11-point advantage at the line as the Pride made 15 of 20 there.

Cooper also had five assists and five rebounds, while teammate Kai Steinman added 18 points with five 3s.

While Northern’s Jackson Dudek scored the game’s first bucket less than a minute in, the Pride led throughout the early going, including 19-8 after a Cooper 3 with 12:36 left in the first half.

That’s exactly when the Wildcats ripped off a 12-0 run to go ahead 20-19 with 6:50 left on a pair of Bjorklund free throws.

Though PNW quickly regained the lead, it was mostly a one-possession advantage that NMU erased with a late rush before halftime. That streak was 11-3 and put Northern up 38-33 at the break.

That late momentum carried over to the second half as NMU needed less than six minutes to build a double-digit lead that got to 14 points twice, the last time 70-56 with 3:25 left on a Sam Privet jumper.

The Pride had one more run in them, cutting their deficit to four on two occasions down the stretch, including 82-78 with 6 seconds to go before Weisbrod hit a pair of free throws two seconds after that.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.