Northern Michigan University’s Julien Smith, right, goes up for a shot and is fouled by Davenport’s Dylan Smith during their GLIAC game played at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Feb. 1. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

DETROIT — Jackson Dudek has gotten accustomed to starting quite quickly.

The junior forward got his fourth straight start, then led the Northern Michigan University men’s basketball team in scoring for the second straight game as the Wildcats downed Wayne State 66-61 on Saturday afternoon.

Dudek pumped in 18 points in a most efficient manner, making 8 of 11 shots from the field, including a 3-pointer, while also pulling down six rebounds and not committing a turnover in 29 minutes court time.

NMU’s fourth straight victory, coming off the heels of a 2-4 streak, has gotten them right back into the thick of the GLIAC race. Northern improved to 16-6 overall and 10-4 in the league, now tied with Ferris State for third place and just a single game behind coleaders Lake Superior State and Michigan Tech.

All league teams near the top of the standings have a half-dozen games remaining to play, with NMU hosting LSSU at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Ferris State at 3 p.m. Saturday at Vandament Arena. They’ll make it the top-of-the-league triumvirate when they travel to Houghton to face MTU on Thursday, Feb. 20.

Wayne State, meanwhile, slipped to seventh place and is an even .500 at 11-11 overall and 7-7 in the conference.

On Saturday, Dudek was one of three Wildcats scoring in double figures. Julien Smith added 14 points, making a pair of 3s and going 6 for 6 on free throws while also not turning the ball over in 27 minutes on the court.

Team leading scorer Dylan Kuehl added 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds to go with two blocked shots as he played all 40 minutes.

Derek Merwick added to his seven points with team highs of three steals and three assists, the assist total actually matching that posted by teammate Gerald Gittens Jr., who had five points.

While NMU was actually outshot by a fairly slim margin, it was outrebounded 37-30. But only committing four turnovers to the Warriors’ 15 was a crucial advantage. That plus limiting WSU’s Rob Lee Jr. to “only” a game-high 19 points, considering the Warriors player burned Northern for 40 points in their win in Marquette in mid-January.

Though the Wildcats led from start to finish, the outcome was in doubt almost to the end.

NMU opened on an 8-2 run, Smith and Dudek hitting 3s and Dudek adding a layup, then made it a double-digit lead at 18-7 with 8:51 left in the opening half when Dudek sank another layup.

Two more layups by Merwick and Dudek in the next two minutes got Northern to its high-water mark of the first half, a 15-point lead at 22-7.

Settling for a 31-20 advantage at halftime, the Wildcats kept their lead in double digits for almost all of the first 10 minutes after intermission.

Then the hosts found their rhythm, slicing NMU’s lead to the smallest it would get in the second half, 48-44, with 8:31 to go on a Jordan Briggs triple.

Northern immediately answered with a 6-0 run on a pair of free throws by Smith, a trey by Smith and a free throw by Sam Privet to re-establish a 54-44 edge with 6:14 left.

Wayne State was only able to get as close as five points after that, including the final score.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the game. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.