Huskies rally from nine-point deficit with 12 minutes left
ALLENDALE, Mich. – Freshman guard Ty Fernholz scored a career-high 18 points as the Michigan Tech men’s basketball team erased a nine-point deficit with under eight minutes to play to win its first game at the GVSU Fieldhouse since Feb. 12, 2022, by a score of 59-58 on Thursday night.
“It was a great win, anytime you can go to Grand Valley and get a win—we never gave up. We went up five and felt like nothing went our way after that then we got down eight,” said Tech head coach Josh Buettner. “Everyone chipped in and it was a gritty win to kind of have our backs against the wall. Nate and Ty were obviously unbelievable down the stretch.”
With the win, the Huskies win streak grows to six games for an overall record of 8-3 and 3-0 in the GLIAC. The Lakers fall to 6-5 overall and 2-1 in the loop.
The two teams looked like they had taken time off for the Holiday Break as neither team made 10 field goals in the opening frame, seeing Grand Valley State hold a slight edge heading into halftime ahead 23-21 with Michigan Tech having the lead for just 53 seconds.
The physicality from the two teams ramped up in the second half and so did the shooting as both teams shot over 50 percent from the field in the second stanza. Grand Valley State won the free throw battle going 14-for-16 in the final 20 minutes. However, the Huskies, who only got four shots at the foul line, (2-for-4) cashed in on eight 3-pointers in 14 attempts to propel the Huskies back into the contest which showcased 11 lead changes and seven ties.
Junior guard Josh Terrian and Fernholz combined for three 3-pointers while Dawson Nordgaard chipped in two hook shots in the first five and a half minutes to put the Huskies ahead of the Lakers 34-29.
Grand Valley State quickly tied the game again with five-straight points before Terrian had a heat-check knocking down his third triple of the game, all coming in the first seven minutes of the second stanza to keep MTU ahead by three.
With 12 minutes to play, Grand Valley State strung together a 13-3 run over four minutes with five points coming from the charity stripe, seeing the Huskies fall behind by nine points (50-41), the largest deficit of the day for the Black & Gold.
Junior guard Nate Abel scored seven of the Huskies’ next nine points, connecting on two 3-pointers off assists by Tomashek with a turnaround jumper and a hook shot by Nordgaard making it a five-point game with 4:08 to play.
The Huskies followed that offensive burst with two steals that translated into a 3-pointer by Fernholz—his fourth of the game before he got a fastbreak steal and connected with a trailing Tomashek to tie the game at 56-all.
With 1:23 on the clock, Fernholz put the nail in the coffin with another 3-pointer to pull ahead by a point (59-58) with the Lakers missing two shots in the final 50 seconds to seal the win for the Huskies.
Fernholz also led the Huskies in rebounding with six, as Nordgaard joined Fernholz in double-digit scoring with 10-points. Tomashek was held under 10 points but had a team-high six assists to go with five rebounds.
Trevor Smith Jr. led a trio of Lakers in double-digit scoring with a team-leading 11 points. William Dunn grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and added eight points.
Up Next
The Huskies wrap the opening GLIAC weekend of the New Year at Davenport on Saturday slated for a 3 p.m. tipoff.
