NORTHERN MICHIGAN 55, PARKSIDE 43
It was a cold-shooting night for both teams Thursday night, but Parkside men's basketball came out on the losing end of a defensive battle in Marquette, Mich., at the Berry Events Center. Both squads used big runs in the ball game, but NMU used a 17-1 run late in the second half to pull away. The Rangers were held to 17 points in the second half after holding the lead for much of the first half.

HEAR FROM COACH REIGEL
"We are really struggling to put 40 minutes of quality offense together," head coach Luke Reigel said. "We have spurts where we look like we know what we are doing but then we hit a long dry spell. It's too bad because we are wasting solid defensive efforts."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Parkside led 8-2 over 5:00 into the ball game after a pair of triples from Brandon Hau and Jonah Matulle. The Rangers pushed the lead to as many as eight points in the first half at the 3:49 mark thanks to a Ramar Evans 3-pointer, but the Wildcats ended the first half on a 15-2 run and took a 31-26 lead into the break.
 
In the second half, NMU pushed its lead to 11 points with 17:26 to play, but the Rangers followed that with an 11-0 run to tie it up at 37-37 with 9:54 to play. Unfortunately, the Wildcats followed that with a 17-1 run and held the Rangers without a field goal until 1:49 on the clock.
 
WHO LED THE WAY
The Rangers were held without a player in double-figures, as Vinson Sigmon Jr. led the team with nine points off the bench. Jonathan Morrobel hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with eight while Hau had seven. Evans had five points, a team-leading six points and a team-leading five assists.
 
Parkside was held to 32-percent from the floor and went just 2-for-6 from the free-throw line. Second chance points went in favor of NMU, 10-0, and the Wildcats went +6 in rebounding.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Parkside will finish out the weekend with a game against Michigan Tech on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 1 p.m. They'll stay on the road next weekend as well before returning home on Feb. 20 and Feb. 22.