Men’s Basketball Hits Century Mark in Exhibition Win Over Finlandia

HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech men's basketball team opened the 2013-14 season by defeating Finlandia 100-51 in an exhibition game on Wednesday (Nov. 6) evening at the SDC Gym. The Huskies had six players in double figures and nailed 13 three-pointers en route to the 49-point victory.

"There are some things I think we did well," Tech coach Kevin Luke said. "I thought we shot well and we looked good when we actually executed."

Up 52-23 at halftime, Tech extended its lead to 37 points (72-35) with a 20-12 run midway through the second half. The Huskies hit the century mark on a trey ball by Dillon Gordon with 26 seconds left for their largest lead of the game.

Tech jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead less than three minutes after tipoff and extended the lead to 26 (35-9) with nine minutes remaining before halftime. Three players were in double figures at the break with Ben Stelzer leading the way with 16 points.

"We got carried away too many times by missing box outs, turning the ball over and not screening," said Luke. "We cleaned up some things at halftime. We're going to have to be patient with our guys early in the season."

Stelzer finished with a game-high 22 points. Austin Armga (14), Quintan Harris (13), Jordan Chartier (12), Gordon (11) and Jason Hawke (11) were also in double figures.

Dominic Morrow led Finlandia with 17 points while Keith Arnold added 10. The Lions shot 33 percent from the field (18-of-54) and were just 3-for-24 from beyond the arc.

The Huskies play their season-opener on Nov. 16 against Minnesota Duluth. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. at the SDC Gym.