Four Huskies score in double figures
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The No. 12 nationally-ranked Michigan Tech men’s basketball team saw 12 players score in the 92-56 win over Lakeland in the home-opener at the SDC Gymnasium on Saturday.
Sophomore guard Ty Fernholz led his squad with 16 points, hitting four 3-pointers as Dawson Nordgaard (13 points), Grant Warren (12 points) and Jesse Napgezek (11 points) also reached double-figure scoring for the Black & Gold.
The Huskies’ home regular season unbeaten record extends to 14 games while the Black & Gold are 6-1 on the season.
“I thought we were pretty focused at the beginning and the first group really guarded hard,” said Tech head coach Josh Buettner. “it’s good to see the ball go in a bit more, but we’ve still got a little ways to go on our offensive execution and 17 turnovers is way too many. All in all, I thought the effort was good and I’m happy to get a win.”
After allowing the first basket of the day, the Huskies went on an 11-0 run to jump out to a sizable lead. Nordgaard had four points in the offensive spurt as Fernholz knocked down two 3-pointers.
After the Muskies creeped back into the contest with a layup by Max Justic at the 12:39 mark (15-11), the Black & Gold put on a defensive clinic, holding the opposition scoreless until 4:17 to go, seeing the score show Michigan Tech ahead 34-13.
The Huskies flexed their depth down the stretch of the first half with seven combined points from Peyton LaCombe and Warren, making it 44-18 heading into halftime.
Nordgaard had a game-leading nine points through 20 minutes of action, going a perfect four-for-four from the field while going one-of-two from the free-throw line as nine Huskies scored in the half.
After shooting 54.8 percent from the field in the opening period, Michigan Tech raised the shooting percentage in the second 20 minutes to 57.6 percent, amassing 46 points in the paint for the game, while knocking down 10 3-pointers.
The Huskies had 48 bench points, mainly coming in the second half as Drew Barrie (8 points) and Alex Calcaterra (4 points) combined for 12 points down the stretch.
Michigan Tech’s largest lead of the game came with seconds to play, as Layne Risdon recorded his first career points off a steal and slam dunk to close the game, 92-56.
Nate Abel, Gabe Smith and Josh Terrian corralled a team-high seven rebounds as Nordgaard led the way with four assists. Smith had a team-high three steals and Warren and LaCombe each had two blocks on the day.
Peyton Mrotek led the Muskies with 13 points as Parker Braun recorded a team-leading five rebounds.
Up Next
The Huskies open GLIAC play on the road next weekend, travelling to Roosevelt on Thursday and Parkside on Saturday.
