Shooting Woes Decide Sunday Matinee as Panthers Best Huskies 69-53
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ky. Wesleyan | 34 | 35 | 69 |
|
Michigan Tech | 25 | 28 | 53 |
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech men's basketball team's poor shooting helps Kentucky Wesleyan to its eighth-straight win, as the Huskies fall 69-53 inside the SDC Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.
"I give a lot of credit to Kentucky Wesleyan–that's a well coached team offensively and defensively," head coach Josh Buettner said. "I thought they competed better than us–I think we played hard, but we didn't compete. I thought we had some good days of practice and to come out that flat was really disappointing."
Michigan Tech (2-7, 1-1 GLIAC) had 11 more field goal attempts than Kentucky Wesleyan (8-2, 3-0 GMAC) with multiple chances coming off a season-high 15 offensive rebounds. However, the Panthers shot over 50 percent from the field (27-of-52) to ultimately be the difference maker.
Kentucky Wesleyan led from the jump and sustained a two-possession lead until the 11:36 mark, when the Panthers jumped out to a 15-7 margin. The two teams were nearly even in just about every statistical category outside of field goals, where the Huskies shot 28.1 percent compared to the Panthers 44.8.
Kentucky Wesleyan won the rebound battle 20-19, although the Huskies amassed six offensive rebounds compared to the Panthers three.
The Huskies would go down 13 for their largest deficit of the game with 1:48 to play in the half before Marcus Tomashek would connect from long range and a free-throw from Drew Barrie down the stretch would cut the Panthers lead to nine points heading into halftime 34-25.
Out of the half, the Panthers would jump out to a 10-0 start before Head Coach Buettner took a timeout and sparked the Huskies to a 12-4 run.
Peyton LaCombe had four-points in the early portion of the run with a Dan Gherezgher 3-pointer sandwiched between. Marcus Tomashek would then hit a 3-pointer with free-throws from Pete Calcaterra, concluding the run and cutting the deficit to nine points, forcing a Panther timeout with 11:56 to play.
The Panthers would answer with a run of their own following the timeout, showing the lead extended to 20 with 6:53 to play coming off a layup from Kaeveon Mitchell, who scored eight-straight points for KWC.
Buettner found points from the Huskies reserves down the stretch, with Matt Schmainda and Brad Simonsen each chipping in a 3-pointer before Kentucky Wesleyan dribbled out the clock to open the season 8-2 for the first time since 2016-17 with a 69-53 victory.
Tomashek led all scorers with 18 points, going 4-of-9 from 3-point land. Dawson Nordgaard and Calcaterra each posted six rebounds to lead the team.
KWC saw a well balanced attack with four in double-figure scoring led by Borja Bernandez with 16 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Up Next
The Huskies continue nonconference play on Tuesday (Dec. 19), welcoming Winona State to the SDC Gymnasium slated for a 1 p.m. tipoff.
