Jesse Napgezek, Kayden Schultz and Ty Fernholz combine for 51 points
WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. – The Michigan Tech men’s basketball team began its 2026-27 season with a 79-72 victory over Winona State on Friday at the Justagame Fieldhouse. The Huskies outscored the Warriors 53-37 in the second half.
“I’m really proud of our group. After a nervous first half, we really played tough and intense in the second half,” Tech coach Josh Buettner said. “We got a ton of contributions up and down the lineup.”
Tech was down six midway through the second half before back-to-back jumpers by Ty Fernholz and Jesse Napgezek. Anthony Richardson scored on a fast break a couple possessions later while adding a free throw on an and-one, and the game was tied at 51. Fernholz nailed a three with 6:47 left to give the Black and Gold their first lead.
Tied at 62 with 2:04 remaining, Ty Fernholz drilled back-to-back three-pointers to put Tech in front for good, and then the Huskies buried 11 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
The Warriors led by as many as 13 in the first half, shooting over 51 percent from the floor and allowing only eight field goals for the Huskies. They outscored Tech 22-8 in the paint and 21-9 from the bench.
Jesse Napgezek scored a game-high 19 points on 6-for-10 shooting. Kayden Schultz went for 17 points in his Michigan Tech debut, and Ty Fernholz finished with 15 points.
The Warriors got 17 points from Tyler Mason, 14 from Kaiden Space, and 13 from Ryan Heise. WSU finished the game at 51 percent from the field but couldn’t overcome 25 points from the charity stripe by the Huskies.
The Huskies wrap up the weekend in the Dells against Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday at 4 p.m. Eastern. The Tritons fell 64-60 to Northern Michigan Friday afternoon.
