Tomashek powers Huskies with 34 points
NORTH CANTON, Ohio – Senior guard Marcus Tomashek completed a four-point play with under three seconds to play to give the No. 15 nationally-ranked Michigan Tech men’s basketball team its first win over No. 22 Grand Valley State this season, advancing to the Midwest Region Championship game with a 69-67 victory at the Alumni Arena on the campus of Walsh University on Sunday evening.
Tomashek fired a close-range fadeaway that was tracked by Nate Abel, who fired it back out to Tomashek on the perimeter to cash in the triple while drawing a foul, completing a four-point play with the Lakers unable to get a quality shot off with seconds remaining to advance the Huskies to the Sweet 16.
Michigan Tech will now play in the Midwest Region Championship game for the third-time in program history and the first under fifth-year head coach Josh Buettner.
Tomashek led all scorers with 22 points to go with eight boards and five dimes as true freshman Jesse Napgezek added 18 points, including shooting 10-of-14 from the free-throw line, to go with a team-best and career-high nine rebounds.
“We had a next-play mentality all game–we did the gritty things and were solid,” said Buettner. “It started with Marcus. 6-of-18 isn’t great in terms of efficiency, but today he didn’t get frustrated and he kept guarding. When your All-American keeps doing all the other things, everybody follows. All the guys stepped up today and Jesse was huge again. The guys just believed and came in with the mentality that they could get it done and they did.”
The two teams traded blows in a first half that featured 10 lead changes and four ties, with Grand Valley State (27-6) leading by as many as six points (8-2) at the 15:05 mark off free throws by David Wilkerson.
Michigan Tech (28-6) only led for 2:31 in the first period following a 3-pointer by Matt Schmainda at the 8:07 mark to make it 20-18.
For the second-straight game, Napgezek was a difference-maker for the Black & Gold, as he drew six fouls, translating into an 8-of-10 mark from the free throw line, adding a layup to have a team-best 10 points at half as the Huskies struggled from the field, shooting 8-of-30 (26.7%).
GVSU saw a game-leading 11 points from Mason Docks on 3-of-5 shooting from the field, while going 3-of-4 from the free throw line. The Lakers shot 44 percent from the field but lost the battle on the boards, 22-17.
Michigan Tech trailed Grand Valley State for 19:36 in the second half and led by as many as seven points in the second frame with just one tie and one lead change.
The Huskies shot 46.3 from the field in the second stanza and saw Tomashek account for 18 second-half points and three assists as Napgezek chipped in eight points. The Black & Gold saw the duo combine for the final 11 points with Tomashek netting the final nine points, in true Tomashek takeover fashion.
Docks finished with 15 points to lead a trio of Lakers in double-figure scoring as Jalen Charity had a team-high seven rebounds.
Up Next
The Huskies will play the No. 1 seed and host Walsh on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. for a chance to advance to the Elite Eight in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Cavaliers punched their ticket to the Regional Championship game with an 86-68 win over U.P. rival and No. 5-seeded Northern Michigan.
