Lakers Slip Past Huskies in Regular Season Finale
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Grand Valley State | 40 | 52 | 92 |
|
Michigan Tech | 36 | 50 | 86 |
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech men's basketball team fell in the regular season finale to Grand Valley State in a high-scoring affair, 92-86, at the SDC Gymnasium on Senior Day Saturday.
Michigan Tech (11-16, 8-10 GLIAC) and Grand Valley State (14-14, 11-7 GLIAC) traded multiple runs in the second half, with the Huskies trailing from the 18-minute mark, making it a one-possession game 10 times down the stretch, but were unable to retake the lead.
"Today we couldn't get a stop in crunch time. In the last minute of the game there were a couple of times I would've liked to get a timeout in hindsight," head coach Josh Buettner said. "There's a lot to learn from–I thought we fought and Grand Valley played well while I thought we played okay. They went inside to Grazulis and we didn't have an answer for him. He stepped up and hurt us and the four Dunn threes were big."
The Huskies were down by 10 within the first five minutes of action, forcing head coach Josh Buettner to take a timeout.
MTU cut the Lakers' lead to four points with 3:27 to play off a 3-pointer by Adam Hobson off the bench. Foul trouble became apparent down the stretch, as GVSU went three-for-four from the charity stripe before Marcus Tomashek made two free throws to send the Huskies into the locker room trailing 40-36 after 20 minutes.
Michigan Tech had chances in the second half, trading runs with Grand Valley State, but continued to play from behind.
Marcus Tomashek had 18 points and two assists in the second half, with a 3-pointer at the 1:44 mark making it an 87-84 lead for the Lakers, who immediately answered with a layup 14 seconds later.
With 35 seconds to play down by three, the Huskies had a lapse setting up the offense, which translated into a turnover, sending the Lakers to the free-throw line to extend GVSU's win streak to four by a score of 92-86.
Dan Gherezgher led all scorers with 25 points, shooting nine-for-12 from the field to go with two rebounds and three assists. Tomashek joined him in double-figures with 23 points as Pete Calcaterra had a team-leading six boards.
Britain Harris and Marius Grazulis netted a team-leading 24 points and five rebounds.
Up Next
The Huskies earned the fifth seed in the GLIAC Tournament and will head downstate for a rematch against the fourth seed, Grand Valley State on Wednesday night at 8 p.m.
