Northern Michigan 76, Parkside 75 (OT)
Parkside men's basketball lost a thriller to open the 2021 season up in Marquette, Mich. In overtime, senior Tray Croft hit a 3-pointer with :12-seconds left to put Parkside up 75-73, but the Wildcats answered with a corner three of their own to take the lead. Croft missed a runner in the lane as time expired. Sophomore Solomon Oraegbu finished with a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds for Parkside while Croft had a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double. 
 
HEAR FROM COACH REIGEL
"I thought we did some nice things at the end of the first half and beginning of the second, 18^th year head coach Luke Reigel said. "But when we built our lead we gave some possessions away. We will have to figure out how to close games when we get in that same position in the future."
 
DOWN THE STRETCH
The Rangers led by as many as 11 points in the second half after freshman Colin O'Rourke hit a triple with 5:23 to play, but NMU outscored Parkside 15-4 the rest of regulation to send it to overtime. Senior Ramar Evans hit a jumper to tie it up at 69-69 with :37-seconds left.
 
WHO LED THE WAY
Oraegbu had his first career double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds while Croft also finished with a double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds). O'Rourke went for 11 points while redshirt-junior Brandon Hau had eight.
 
The Rangers shot well from beyond the arc, finishing 10-of-21 with Croft hitting four and O'Rourke with three. NMU got a big lift at the free-throw line, going 18-for-24 while the Rangers went 5-of-9. Parkside won the rebounding battle (+3) and the turnover battle (+1).
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Parkside will face NMU once again on Sunday, Jan. 10 at noon to close out the weekend before welcoming in Ferris State next weekend.