Tomashek Posts Career-High 33 Points; Huskies Men’s Hoops Best UMSL 83-75
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Missouri-St. Louis | 24 | 51 | 75 |
|
Michigan Tech | 42 | 41 | 83 |
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech men's basketball team shot a season-high 53.1 percent from the floor with a career-high 33 points from sophomore guard Marcus Tomashek to prevail 83-75 over Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday at the SDC Gymnasium.
It was a feel-good win for the Huskies home opener, finding the win column in the early season for a record of 1-2 while Missouri-St. Louis moves to 1-3.
"I thought we came out and executed and honestly I was really happy with what we did after we made the first six or seven 3-pointers–and when those inside-out passes come, we're going to hit those at a high clip," Tech men's basketball head coach Josh Buettner said. "The second half they made some nice adjustments–I thought we fought and their point guard did a nice job at adjusting.
"We had a couple of stretches in the second half where we had some loose turnovers and loose shot selections which we need to clean up but I'm proud of how we kept fighting when they were making their runs."
Michigan Tech opened the game by making its first five 3-pointers to jump ahead 15-9 at the 16:22 mark. Dan Gherezgher and Marcus Tomashek each hit two 3-pointers in the long-range barrage, with Adam Hobson also connecting from deep in the mix.
Nate Abel chipped in two 3-pointers between a Gherezgher triple to give the Huskies their biggest lead of the game, at 24-11 with 10:40 to go.
The Tritons would not go away quietly, opening the second half with a 16-4 run to make it 46-40. Although, the Huskies would never lose the lead.
Following a timeout, Hobson got a steal, which translated to a 3-pointer in transition with the assist from Nate Abel before Tomashek connected from long range a play later to push the lead back to 10 with 12:41 to go.
The Green Bay, Wisconsin, native hit two more triples before the halfway mark in the half before Dawson Nordgaard and Tyler Robarge got baskets from the low block to make it an eight-point game with 7:20 remaining.
Robarge had two additional baskets in the paint in the final minutes, taking advantage of the Tritons guarding the arc so closely.
Down the stretch, Tomashek went 10-for-10 from the charity stripe to show the final score 83-75.
"I didn't even know I scored that much," Tomashek said. "It's a good feeling after the game but the most important thing is the win. We lost some momentum for a little but once we came together and made a few shots it was good to get the momentum back and I think we controlled it for the rest of the game."
Robarge neared his career-high in points with 13 on the day, with the Huskies reserves chipping in 23 points off the bench.
In total, the Black & Gold shot 53.1 percent from the field (26-49), while also torching it from long range, going 14-for-27 for 51.9 percent from deep.
Tomashek led the Huskies in scoring for the third-straight game with his career-high 33 points. He was joined in double-digit scoring by Gherezgher and Hobson, both scoring 11 points. Pete Calcaterra had a well-rounded game with five points and a team-leading eight rebounds and four assists.
Mayson Quartlebaum led the Tritons with 26 points while Emanuel Prospere II had a team-high eight rebounds.
Up Next
The Huskies will have three games over the next week, facing NSIC foes St. Cloud State, Minnesota Duluth and MSU Moorhead. MTU will travel to St. Cloud State on Tuesday, slated for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The Huskies will play hosts to Minnesota Duluth and MSU Moorhead on Saturday (Nov. 25) and Sunday (Nov. 26). Both contests are scheduled for 1 p.m. start times.
