Northern Michigan University’s Julien Smith drives to the basket for a layup during a GLIAC game played against Ferris State at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — Three-quarters of the losses suffered by the Northern Michigan University men’s basketball team have come against nationally ranked teams.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Ferris State was ranked No. 20 entering its game at NMU on Saturday afternoon.

Northern lost for the second time this season to the Bulldogs 91-84 to fall out of a home court berth for the upcoming GLIAC Tournament first-round quarterfinals.

The good news is that the Wildcats have four games and two weeks left to get back to fourth place, which they are only a game out of, trailing a pair of teams that technically are tied for third place, Ferris and Wisconsin-Parkside.

NMU stands at 16-8 overall and 10-6 in the league, one game behind 11-5 FSU and Parkside, two games behind second-place and 12-4 Lake Superior State and three games behind league-leading and 13-3 Michigan Tech.

Northern travels north to Houghton to face the Huskies at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in a game expected to be televised by TV6 or Fox-U.P.

The Wildcats have lost six games to ranked opponents, twice each to Ferris and No. 15 LSSU on January and February weekends, then earlier to then-No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth and then-No. 13 Minnesota State-Moorhead in November.

NMU does have a win over a ranked opponent, too, a 79-76 victory over then-No. 25 Upper Iowa in December.

On Saturday, the Wildcats spent the middle portion of the second half with the lead before giving it back.

After Ferris (21-6 overall) held the lead for a lion’s share of the first half, NMU wrested it back early in the second half. For the first time since the game’s opening six minutes, Dylan Kuehl put Northern ahead 54-51 when he dropped in a 3-pointer with 16:39 left.

That was the culmination of an 8-0 run that erased the Bulldogs’ 51-46 lead after Kuehl began it with a 3 and Jackson Dudek contributed a layup.

Though Ferris tied it three times, Northern had an uninterrupted span of almost 11 minutes where it didn’t trail, building a lead of as many as five points, 61-56, when Cal Klesmit knocked down three free throws when he was fouled shooting a triple with 12:37 left.

The good feelings came to an end when the Bulldogs reeled off an 11-0 spurt that included Reece Hazelton making a layup to put Ferris ahead 70-68 with 6:27 left.

Barely a minute later, FSU had built a 75-68 advantage after a Jimmy Scholler layup.

After that, the Bulldogs kept Northern at arm’s length with at least a two-possession lead for all but a few moments the rest of the way. That moment came with 3:25 left when Gerald Gittens Jr. knocked down a 3-pointer to pull NMU within 77-76.

But 24 seconds later, Hazelton answered with his own triple to restake Ferris to an 80-76 edge.

In the final minute, Wildcats head coach Matt Majkrzak resorted to a fouling strategy after Gittens hit another trey to pulled the home team within 85-81.

But Ferris thwarted the move by making 6 of 6 free throws over the last 37 seconds.

The loss came despite Kuehl pouring in a career-high 31 points. He not made 10 of 16 from the field, but was 3 of 4 on 3-pointers and a perfect 8 of 8 on free throws. He added in six rebounds, two assists and just one turnover in 37 minutes court time.

Gittens, a senior in his first season at NMU, added in 21 points on Senior Day with his childhood friend and Golden State Warriors player Brandin Podziemski in attendance. Gittens made 7 of 12 from the field, including 3 of 5 on 3s and 4 of 5 free throws, mixing in three rebounds and a game-high five assists.

Dudek scored 11 points, hitting a trio of treys, and shared team rebounding honors with Kuehl with six. Klesmit and Sam Privet each scored nine points, Privet getting five rebounds and Klesmit two assists and two steals.

Ethan Erickson paced Ferris by matching Kuehl with 31 points as he made five 3-pointers and 8 of 9 free throws. Hazelton added 18 points.

After this week’s game at MTU, Northern completes the regular season with three more road games — in Chicago at 8:30 p.m. EST next Monday at Roosevelt; in Kenosha, Wisconsin, at 8:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 27 at Wisconsin-Parkside; and in Hammond, Indiana, at 4 p.m. EST on Saturday, March 1 vs. Purdue Northwest.

While Parkside is a game ahead of the Wildcats, the other two remaining opponents are a combined 7-24 in GLIAC games and 11-37 overall this season.

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.