Marquette University Athletics
Marquette 70, Northern Michigan 58
11/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Post Game Notes| Post Game Quotes|Game Recap|Boxscore
Marquette crashed the boards hard, and in doing so, capitalized on second chances to beat Northern Michigan, 70-58. The Golden Eagles (4-0) owned a 46-21 advantage in rebounds (19-5 in offensive boards) and were able to overcome sloppy play late in the game to defeat a surprisingly strong challenge from the Wildcats (2-1).
Marquette used its rebounding edge to out-pace Northern Michigan in second-chance points, 18-to-3. The Wildcats used a strong shooting performance in the second half (52.0 percent) to hang tight with Marquette, keeping the score as close as five points midway through the period.
Rebounding, balanced scoring and unselfish play kept Marquette in the lead. Three Golden Eagles scored in double figures, led by Travis Diener (15 points, five assists). Scott Merritt added his second-straight double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Steve Novak scored 14, with five rebounds of his own. Marquette also received a spark from freshman Dameon Mason, who fell just shy of the first double-double of his collegiate career with nine points and nine rebounds.
Northern Michigan was led by the Volcy brothers. Ricky Volcy led the Wildcats with 14 points, while Marco Volcy scored 12 points on 4-7 shooting from behind-the-arc.
Marquette takes a week off from competition, before hosting Notre Dame next Monday, December 1, at 8 p.m.
