Gabe Smith scores 16 points
WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. – The No. 13 nationally-ranked Michigan Tech men’s basketball team saw five players reach double-figure scoring en route to a 72-61 victory over GLVC foe Maryville to wrap the D2 Midwest Region Tip-off hosted at the JustAGame Fieldhouse in the Wisconsin Dells, on Saturday afternoon.
Gabe Smith produced a team-leading 16 points, shooting seven-of-nine from the field to go with three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Veteran Nate Abel had a career day for the Black & Gold with 15 points (5-of-7), a career-high 11 rebounds for his first double-double, while adding a career-high five steals and four assists.
Guard Marcus Tomashek added 14 points, four rebounds and two assists as Dawson Nordgaard (5-of-7) and Grant Warren (4-of-6) totaled 10 points, respectively. Warren also had a team-leading two blocks in the win.
Michigan Tech improves to 3-1 on the season as Maryville drops to 0-2 on its season-opening weekend.
“I liked our effort today, bouncing back from yesterday. It was a good win,” said Michigan Tech head coach Josh Buettner. “We need a good week of practice to get better before some more huge challenges next weekend.”
The two teams were evenly matched most of the first half, with the Huskies not trailing in the game until midway through with a dunk by Evan Palmquist. Shortly after, the Black & Gold rattled off 10-straight points, highlighted by a 3-pointer from Josh Terrian and back-to-back layups by Smith, capped by a Nordgaard layup with five minutes to play, making it 28-20 in favor of Michigan Tech.
The Huskies endured a slight scoring lapse, although Abel cashed in on two free throws to help keep his squad ahead, going into halftime with a slight edge of 30-27.
After shooting 40 percent from the field in the opening period and allowing eight offensive boards to the opposition, the Huskies turned up the dial and dropped 42 points in the second stanza, shooting 57.7 percent from the field while winning the battle on the glass 17-13.
Michigan Tech scored nine points before the Saints found a bucket to begin the second frame, with 3-pointers by Tomashek and Abel helping push the advantage before Warren hit a jumper to make it an 11-point lead with 16:13 to go. The Huskies’ largest lead of the day came with 2:58 to play from a driving layup by the Black & Gold’s All-American, Tomashek, as Smith earned his third assist of the day (66-53).
The Saints won the rebound battle by a narrow margin of 36-35, although the Huskies earned 36 points in a physical contest that saw five players commit four personal fouls.
Henry Sanchez had a game-high 20 points for the Saints, who saw two additional players reach double-digit scoring. Kobe Clark led his team with nine rebounds while adding two points.
Up Next
The Huskies continue the non-conference slate, traveling to Minnesota for the St. Louis County Basketball Classic, hosted by Minnesota Duluth, where the Black & Gold will clash with Minnesota Duluth on Friday (7:00 p.m. EST) before a matchup with St. Cloud State on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. (EST).
