Box Score
Sherwin Williams might by lobbying to become the new mascot of the AU men's basketball team.
Thursday (Jan. 9) at Kates Gymnasium, the Eagles outscored Northern Michigan, 34-14 in the paint and that led to a 72-56 triumph. The victory ended a two-game losing streak and upped AU's record to 5-6, 2-5 in the GLIAC. Northern Michigan is 8-7 and 4-3.
This wasn't so much paint-by-the-numbers as paint produces numbers. Junior forward Paul Honigford scored a career-high 20 points and the Eagles shot 55.1 percent (27-of-49) from the floor. In the second half, the Eagles blazed away at 60 percent (15-of-25) from the field. Throughout the second half, the Eagles got good looks at the basket, many times from inside the key.
The first half was a tense affair that ended with the Eagles in front, 30-28. In the second half, AU outscored the Wildcats, 42-28. With 15:32 left in regulation, the Eagles led, 42-38. AU went on a 5-0 run to grab a 47-38 advantage with 13:32 to play. With 10 minutes left that margin had swelled to 10 points, 52-42. After that, NMU got no closer than nine points. That came with 9:56 remaining in the game.
Defensively, AU prevented the Wildcats from getting on any kind of a roll. AU was able to contest shots all night and that paid off in a big way. The Wildcats made 4-of-16 three-point attempts (25 percent). In the second half, they went 2-of-10 (20 percent).
Honigford scored 15 second half points. After the break, he made 6-of-8 field goal tries.
Guard Boo Osborne had 11 points, all in the second half. Guard DaWuan Thomas had 13 points and guard Adrian Cook scored 11 points. Guard Wendell Davis snared a team-high seven rebounds.
Forward Justin Newell scored 15 points to lead the Wildcats. Chavis Mattison had 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
This was the first of four consecutive home games for the Eagles. Saturday (Jan. 11, 1:30 p.m.) the Eagles entertain Michigan Tech.
AU
MBB/ALK
