Six Huskies in double figures
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech men’s basketball team saw six players reach double-figure scoring in the 92-59 domination of Purdue Northwest to complete the conference opening weekend sweep at the SDC Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
The GLIAC Preseason Player of the Year selection, Marcus Tomashek, led the Black & Gold with 15 points and two steals. Starters Dawson Nordgaard and Pete Calcaterra produced 12-point outings, with Calcaterra also recording a team-leading seven rebounds.
Veteran Adam Hobson (11 points), redshirt freshman Gabe Smith (10 points) and first-year guard Ty Fernholz (12 points) were a part of the Huskies’ bench, which scored 44 points. For the third straight game, Michigan Tech has scored over 80 points at a clip of 50 percent or better from the field. Defensively, the Black & Gold held both GLIAC opponents to under 60 points in the weekend sweep.
The Huskies are now winners of four-straight with an overall ledger of 6-3 and 2-0 in the loop. Purdue Northwest drops to 2-6 overall and 0-2 in league play.
“Today was great, the guys came out with the same competitive juice as Thursday and guarded well and didn’t let Purdue Northwest get comfortable,” said Tech head coach Josh Buettner. “Once again we shared the ball with six guys reaching double-figures. That’s impressive no matter what level of basketball and 21 assists is great.”
For the second straight game, the Huskies were in control on both ends of the floor, opening with an emphatic dunk by Calcaterra on the first possession. Tomashek netted a triple at the 12:39 mark to put the Black & Gold up by five points (18-13) and then it was off to the races.
Dawson Nordgaard, who was perfect on the day (6-for-6), pushed the lead to double-figures with a hook shot at the halfway point of the period. Fernholz hit back-to-back 3-pointers with under 5 minutes to play, allowing the Huskies’ lead to swell to 21 points before Calcaterra capped the first quarter, following his own shot for a tip-in to send the teams to their respective locker rooms with Michigan Tech leading by 26 points (51-25), with the highest scoring first half of the season.
Purdue Northwest cut into the sizable Husky lead in the first 7:40, outscoring the Black & Gold 17-11, but the bench play of Hobson and Smith, who combined for eight points, pushed the lead back to 28 points heading into the under 12-minute media break. Hobson connected on two 3-pointers with an assist on a dunk from Smith in between the long-range shots.
Sophomore guard Matt Schmainda recorded back-to-back 3-pointers with under 3 minutes to play, seeing the Huskies largest lead (34 points) at 89-55.
Drew Barrie hit the final shot for the Black & Gold with a 3-pointer at the 22-second mark, seeing 10 Huskies make the score sheet.
“We’re happy to get a couple of wins under our belt before going into break,” Calcaterra mentioned. “We’ve been focusing on defense, if we get stops we’re able to get out in transition and play free–we have confidence in everyone on our team to make shots.”
Jailen Nelson was the lone scorer for the Pride to reach double-digits with 10 points as Dalton Gayman grabbed a team-high seven boards.
Up Next
Michigan Tech completes its non-conference slate on Saturday, welcoming Northland to the SDC Gymnasium slated for a 5 p.m. tipoff.
