Marcus Tomashek powers Huskies with 35 points
HOUGHTON, Mich. – Senior guard Marcus Tomashek dropped 35 points to power the No. 18 nationally ranked Michigan Tech men’s basketball to an 84-75 victory over No. 14 Northern Michigan, snapping a 12-game win-streak, at the SDC Gymnasium on Thursday evening.
Tomashek’s third 30-point game of the season puts him just six points away from 2,000 career points, a feat only four previous Huskies have accomplished, including head coach Josh Buettner.
The Huskies are Wildcats now hold the same record at 13-2 overall and 4-1 in the league.
“It’s kind of shocking that we gave up that many offensive rebounds and our nine turnovers to their five—usually when you see those stats, it doesn’t look like a win,” said Buettner. “I’m really proud of how our guys fought and guarded their stuff well. I was also really happy with our bench. I thought they really stepped up.”
The Huskies opened the game on a 9-0 run kindled by a layup by Nate Abel and two 3-pointers by Tomashek, drawing a foul on the second trey to complete a four-point play in under four minutes of action.
The Wildcats produced a five-point spurt to get on the board before the Huskies knocked down 3-pointers on both sides of the media break, first Josh Terrian and then Matt Schmainda, to make it a 15-5 score at the 14:21 mark.
Back-to-back slam dunks by Gabe Smith moments later nearly blew the roof off the SDC Gymnasium before the third 3-pointer by Tomashek made it a 14-point game (24-10), nearing the halfway point.
Northern Michigan found an offensive groove and cut the lead down to five points off a jumper in the paint by Dylan Kuehl, although the 3-point shot continued to give the Black & Gold separation, with Tomashek hitting his fourth triple of the half before Ty Fernholz produced eight-straight points off a layup and two treys.
Tomashek concluded the scoring for each team before half with his fifth 3-pointer of the day, putting the Huskies ahead 40-27 heading into the break after shooting 50 percent from the field while holding the Wildcats to 31 percent and just 3-15 from long range.
The Wildcats struggled to find offense away from the charity stripe as they missed their first six field goals while going 7-11 from the foul line in almost the first seven minutes of the second half.
Meanwhile, the Huskies shot 6-12, almost 10 minutes into the second half, also going 3-4 from the foul line to maintain a double-digit lead (57-41) following another trey by Schmainda.
Basich scored 12-straight points for the Wildcats, with 16 of his 20 points coming in the second half, as Dylan Kuehl poured in 20 of his team-leading 27 points in the second period.
Michigan Tech maintained a double-digit edge until the 3:56 mark as the pesky Wildcats would not go away quietly and cut the lead down to six points following another and-one by Kuehl with under two minutes to play, but a free throw by Smith and a midrange jumper by Tomashek at the 1:03 mark put the Huskies ahead by nine once again.
In a contest that saw 4 players foul out and three additional players with four fouls, the Huskies maintained a free-throw shooting contest down the stretch as Schmainda and Tomashek went 7-10 combined from the charity stripe.
Tomashek finished the game 14-15 from the free throw line, adding six rebounds, two assists and an emphatic second half block. Schmainda led the Huskies in rebounding with eight, four on each end. Fernholz joined Tomashek in double-figure scoring with 11 points.
Kuehl’s 27 points led the Wildcats as Cal Klesmit, known more for his 3-point shooting, went 0-6 from deep but led the team with nine boards.
Up Next
The Huskies conclude four-straight games at the SDC Gymnasium on Saturday, welcoming Ferris State at 2:00 p.m.
