DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (4-7 overall, 1-3 GLIAC) fell to Northern Michigan (12-3 overall, 4-1 GLIAC) in its first game of 2023, 64-62 in overtime, on Thursday night inside the Wayne State Fieldhouse.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Wayne State scored the first points of the game thanks to an Antonio Marshall (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) jumper in the paint before three ties and one lead change in the following two and a half minutes. Once it was deadlocked at 7-7, Northern Michigan used a 12-2 run to go up by nine, 19-10, at the 10:23 mark.

The Warriors were able to cut the deficit to seven twice, 19-12 and 21-14, before the Wildcats pushed their advantage to as large as 14 at 29-15 and 31-17. Through 20 minutes of play, the visitors carrier a 12-point edge into halftime, 33-21.

Second Half
Out of the break, NMU's margin increased to 15, 38-23, and was still 14, 43-29, with just under 13 minutes to play. WSU then began to mount a comeback and first did so with nine-straight points to fight back within five, 43-38. Just over four minutes later, Avery Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) scored two of his 15 second-half points (19 for the game) with a pair of three throws to make it a three-point affair, 47-44 at the 5:06 mark.

The game's leading scorer, Max Weisbrod (26 points) of Northern Michigan, answered with five-straight points of his own to get his team's lead back to eight, 52-44. After that, Wayne State battled back within three twice, including 52-49 and 55-52, taking advantage of it the second time.

With under 30 seconds to play in regulation, Cortez Jackson (Harper Woods, Mich. / St. Clair Shores Lake Shore) hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to tie it at 55-55, the Wildcats were unable to answer at the other end and the game headed into overtime.

Overtime
NMU tallied the first points of the extra period with a Dylan Kuehl jumper and free throw by Weisbrod free throw to make it 58-55. WSU was able to tie the game for a final time at 60-60 when Ray Williams, Jr.  (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) sank one of two at the charity stripe.

The Wildcats responded with the next four points to lead by four, 64-60, before Lewis hit a layup and the Wildcats had one more possession to win it. Carmelo Harris (Flint, Mich. / Beecher) didn't get his triple to fall and Northern Michigan had held on.

TEAM STATS
The two teams shot nearly identically from the field as Wayne State was at 37.7 percent (23-of-61) to Northern Michigan's 37.1 percent (23-of-62). Breaking that down, though, the Warriors improved from 28.6 percent (8-of-28) in the first half to 48 percent (12-of-25) in the second while the Wildcats dropped from 39.4 percent (13-of-33) in the first 20 minutes to 28 percent (7-of-25) after the intermission. WSU's bench outscored NMU's, 27-15, but came up short in points in the paint, 24-32.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Lewis (19 points) was one of three Warriors in double figures along with Harris with 13 and Marshall with 11. Williams, Jr. brought down a WSU-high seven rebounds and three Warriors dished out four assists including Harris, Marshall and Jackson.

LEADING THE WILDCATS
As mentioned above, Northern Michigan's Max Weisbrod racked up 26 points, playing all 45 minutes. The Wildcats' other leaders included Sam Schultz with eight boards and five assists as well as D. Kuehl with four blocks.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will wrap up its six-game home stand on Saturday with a 3 p.m. opening tip against Michigan Tech.