In the end, things couldn’t have worked out better for the Northern Michigan University men’s basketball team after knocking off Michigan Tech on Saturday afternoon and Lake Superior State 24 hours later to capture the GLIAC Tournament championship and the automatic berth to the NCAA Division II tournament that goes with it.

Both games, along with LSSU’s 93-76 victory over tourney No. 3 seed Ferris State later Saturday, were played at the Huskies’ gym in Houghton as Tech was the league’s regular-season champion and therefore the No. 1 seed for the tournament.

The Wildcats, now with a 22-9 overall record as they work on a six-game winning streak, were waiting for the late Sunday (around 11 p.m.) announcement of the NCAA tournament field of 64 teams.

This marks the second time in three seasons that the coach Matt Majkrzak-led NMU team has won the conference tournament and automatically qualified for the national event, and actually its third straight appearance in the big dance, 11th overall in program history.

Northern Michigan University President Brock Tessman, center facing away, hugs Wildcats’ men’s basketball player Michael McNabb during a postgame celebration of NMU’s victory over Michigan Tech in the GLIAC Tournament men’s basketball semifinal at the Huskies’ gym in Houghton on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Here are details from the weekend in Houghton:

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NMU 68, Michigan Tech 67

On Saturday afternoon, the Wildcats had a mighty challenge facing MTU for the third time this season with Tech having won the league a week earlier.

But Northern grabbed the lead around six minutes into the game and only gave it up twice briefly in the late going before pulling out the victory.

Northern Michigan University’s Jackson Dudek, left, drives the baseline and goes up for a shot that he would make during a GLIAC Tournament men’s basketball semifinal game played against Michigan Tech at the Huskies’ gym in Houghton on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Unlike Wednesday when Ferris State kept NMU leading scorer Dylan Kuehl bottled up for just seven points and three attempted shots from the field, the Wildcats’ junior leader scored more than than his next two teammates combined.

Kuehl finished with 26 points, making 10 of 18 from the field including 2 of 5 on 3-pointers, while adding 4 of 6 free throws, not to mention a game-high eight rebounds along with two assists.

Teammate Jackson Dudek was the only other Northern player reaching double digits with 11 points, including 3 of 3 free throws, while taking down four rebounds and not committing a turnover in 33 minutes court time.

The Wildcats’ Sam Privet contributed nine points and five rebounds, while Derek Merwick had eight points.

Tech’s Marcus Tomashek led all scorers with 28 points, which included a hefty 16-of-19 performance at the free throw line as he also had a team-high seven rebounds and three assists. However, he was only 6 of 21 from the field that included a hollow-sounding 0 of 11 on triples.

Tech’s overall shooting numbers were similar to their leader’s — 18.2% on 3s (4 of 22) and 81.5% on free throws (22 of 27).

NMU shot a bit better from the field but only 11 of 16 on free throws to make this an almost even game.

The Wildcats took the lead for the third time at 8-6 with 14:15 left in the first half after a Biggie Luster 3. They didn’t have to worry about losing the advantage again until the very end.

They got their lead into double digits, 20-10, with 9:18 left prior to intermission following a Kuehl jumper before settling for a 33-25 advantage at halftime.

Northern increased its lead to as many as 17 points, 51-34, with 13:40 left after a Dudek layup.

But foul trouble — and the free throws that ensued — helped the Huskies get back in the game.

As soon as the lead hit its high points, Tech went on a 13-0 run over the next 3 1/2 minutes to pull within 51-47.

Though Kuehl and Julien Smith hit baskets soon after that, MTU whittled it deficit down to a single point, 58-57, with 5:57 left after an Adam Hobson triple.

The Huskies, who tied the score four times after that, finally took their first lead since the early going, 66-65, with 51 seconds to go after Tomashek sank a pair of free throws.

Merwick answered by making a pair of freebies seven seconds later to put NMU back up 67-66, but Tomashek answered again at the free throw line with two more with 27 seconds to go to give the home team its last lead, 68-67.

Luckily for the Wildcats, there was one more lead change on the agenda, with Merwick again hitting a pair of gifters with 21 seconds left to make it 68-67.

Tomashek and Hobson each put shots up in the final dying seconds that missed.

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NMU 78, Lake Superior State 63

On Sunday afternoon, the No. 2 tourney seed Lakers bottled up Kuehl to the tune of two points after he missed most of the first half with an injury.

But five of his teammates picked up the slack by scoring in double figures, led by Dudek sharing high-scoring honors with 19 points. He made 8 of 12 shots overall, including 2 of 3 triples, and added a game-high nine rebounds and dished out three assists.

He earned the GLIAC Tournament MVP honors after averaging 15.7 points and shooting 67.9% over the three tourney games.

Smith put in 15 points, making three 3s even as he fouled out, while Brian Parzych, who made the all-tournament team, contributed 12 points with a triple and 3-of-3 free throw shooting and three steals.

In addition, Gerald Gittens Jr. had 11 points with a pair of 3s and 5 of 6 free throws, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals, while

Privet scored 10 points, making 4 of 5 free throws with five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.

Lake State (27-6) was led by Tyson Edmondson with 19 points and seven rebounds as he made a trio of treys.

The Wildcats led throughout, jumping out to an 8-0 lead after Dudek and Gittens each hit 3s and Dudek a 2 in the game’s first three minutes.

It wasn’t until 7:54 was left in the first half, however, for Northern to get its first lead in double digits, 22-12, after a Merwick jumper.

It quickly ballooned to 22 points at halftime, 40-18, before LSSU started chipping away to start the second half.

The Lakers got their deficit back to single digits, 50-41, after a Kingsley Perkins layup with 12:18 left.

And while NMU spent most of the remaining time with a lead of more than 10 points, Lake State got as close as seven points down the stretch, 68-61 in the final instance, following a Nino Carter-Smith layup with 2:49 to go.

That apparently spurred on the Wildcats, as they immediately went on an 8-0 run that ended with Gittens making a free throw with 56 seconds left to put the game out of reach at 76-61.

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