The Northwood men's basketball team defeated Ave Maria 61-44 on Thursday evening in Sun Conference play. The Seahawks used a strong first eight minutes in the second half helping them in route to the win.

A close opening 12 minutes featuring three ties and two leads changes with no lead greater than four when Ave Maria opened up to a 14-9 lead at the 8:34 mark. The Seahawks answered back with a 10-2 run started by a Deion McClenton put back dunk retaking a 19-16 lead with 2:08 left in the half. Northwood went on to take a 23-18 advantage into the locker room.

Northwood came out of the break fast, using a 19-3 run stretching their lead to 42-21 with 12:33 showing on the clock. The Gyrenes were only able to get as close as 13, before the Seahawks would push back out their leads. Northwood went on to win the contest by a final score of 61-44.

Fred Mattison, Marcus Hardy and Andrija Sarenac all had 13 points to lead the way on the night, while Chris Solomon had 11 points. Mattison had a team high 11 rebounds and Ian Umpierre had four assists.

With the win, the Seahawks improve to 17-11 overall and 9-8 in conference play.

The Seahawks return home on Saturday for senior day against Thomas at 4:00 p.m. Prior to the contest Northwood will honor Ian Umpierre, Chris Solomon, Malte Ziegenhagen, Chris Pinder, Danny Nieman, Fred Mattison and Julian Smith,