Huskies Second Half Takeover Overwhelms Rangers

KENOSHA, Wis. – Sophomore guard's Marcus Tomashek and Dan Gherezgher scored 37 of Michigan Tech's 44 second half points to cruise to a 78-71 victory over Parkside at the De Simone Arena on Thursday night. 

Michigan Tech elevates to 6-10 overall and 3-4 in league play, while Parkside falls to 8-8 overall and 3-3 in the loop.

"I was really proud with how we came out in the second half," head coach Josh Buettner said. "Parkside came out on fire and it was 9-0 before I think we even knew we were in a basketball game–but we kept battling and it felt like they shot the lights out in the first half, but it was one of those situations where if you keep steady and solid they are bound to miss. We just kept playing and doing Michigan Tech stuff and got some separation and obviously we got some tough baskets, but I thought our defense was pretty solid to hold them to 71."

Michigan Tech had to rally from a 9-0 deficit in the first few minutes of action and saw minutes from Nate Abel and Brad Simonsen off the bench help the Huskies back into the game, each knocking down a 3-pointer soon after checking in for the first time with Simonsen's triple at the 12:05 mark cutting the deficit to three points (18-15).

Dawson Nordgaard chipped in 10 of his 12 total points in the first half and helped the Black & Gold tie the game at 32-all with a layup at the 2:51 mark after going down by as much as eight-points with over eight minutes to play in the opening half.

A steal by Simonsen with less than 30 seconds to play in the first half translated into a fastbreak dunk by Pete Calcaterra to make the Huskies deficit just three points heading into halftime (37-34).

The Rangers opened the second half of action ice cold from the field, going a shocking 1-for-24 from the field through almost 16 minutes of play. Despite the shooting drought, Parkside got some points from the charity stripe, where they went 13-for-14 in that time.

The two teams traded leads until the 11:03 mark, with a layup by Nordgaard giving the Huskies a lead they would sustain for the remainder of the game.

Gherezgher would score the next four-points for MTU on back-to-back possession's off a lay up and two free-throws to extend the lead to five points at 52-47. The lead grew to as much as 14-points off an and-one by Marcus Tomashek, who began his takeover.

From the 5:12 mark, the Green Bay, Wisconsin, native scored the final 18-points for Michigan Tech to sustain a marginal lead.

Tomashek hit 6-of-7 from the charity stripe in the final 56 seconds of regulation before the Rangers admitted defeat.

Tomashek, for the fourth time this season, scored over 30 points with his team-leading 32 points. Gherezgher (18) and Nordgaard (12) also reached double figure scoring for Tech. Pete Calcaterra posted a new career-high with a team-leading 15 rebounds.

Josiah Palmer was the Rangers leading scorer with 29 points, while Ethan Ivan secured a double-double with 12-points and 10 rebounds.

Up Next

The Huskies continue the road weekend with a tilt at Purdue Northwest on Saturday, slated for a 4 p.m. tipoff.