Hobson scores 1,000th point as Huskies mush past Wayne State
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech men’s basketball team earned its third GLIAC weekend sweep of the season with a 74-68 win over Wayne State to remain undefeated at the SDC Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
Senior guard Adam Hobson scored his 1,000th point during the game as the Huskies are now winners of four-straight for an overall ledger of 12-4 and 7-1 in the GLIAC. Wayne State falls to 8-8 overall and 4-4 in the loop.
“I’m just proud of how hard our guys are playing–over the weekend, that was 80 minutes where we were pretty locked in competing at the right level defensively,” said Tech head coach Josh Buettner. “Those are two really good teams that came in here and the records don’t tell everything and that’s a very good team we played today. In the second half, I thought the guys dug in–it’s a mentality thing and it was very physical everywhere today and we cut our turnovers in half and rebounded well in the second.
“Dawson is such an important part of what we’re trying to do and it doesn’t always show on the box score. He’s always been there defensively, but he’s drawing attention on offense and it gives us an advantage and allows us to play inside-out basketball. Hobson has had a great career and it’s awesome that he was able to get 1,000 points at home. I’m really happy for him.”
Wayne State played the Huskies tough in the first 20 minutes of action and were up by as much as seven points by the 10:54 mark with defensive efforts causing Michigan Tech to amass 11 turnovers to the opposition’s three. Carlos Paul III did a lot of dirty work inside offensively for WSU as he and Tamario Adley each recorded a team-high eight points in the first half, helping the visitors head into the locker room with a 27-26 advantage at the half.
The GLIAC Preseason Player of the Year, junior guard Marcus Tomashek, got it going early with a game-leading 10 points, including two 3-pointers in the opening period, with freshman guard Ty Fernholz coming off the bench to add five points.
After shooting 37 percent from the field in the first half, the Huskies found their groove in the final 20 minutes, shooting 66.7 percent from the field (14-21), including 3-for-6 from downtown. Michigan Tech also got to the foul line 23 times in the second half, connecting on 17 free throws compared to just 9-for-12 from the charity stripe for the opposition.
Forward Dawson Nordgaard started the second half with a dunk after getting a nice pass by Tomashek to retake the lead, although the talented Warriors would see its largest lead of the second half come with 12:38 to play following a steal and slam by Williams, Jr. making it 47-40.
However, the Huskies quickly made it a one-possession game with a 3-pointer by Hobson, fresh off of his 1,001st point scored two minutes earlier, followed by a fastbreak layup by sophomore Matt Schmainda with compliments to Gabe Smith, who made the play happen on defense with a steal, forcing the Warriors to talk it over.
Carmelo Harris gave the Warriors its final lead of the game following a free throw at the 8:19 mark (48-47) before the Huskies went on a 6-0 run with two layups by Pete Calcaterra sandwiched between two free throws by Tomashek.
The Warriors made it a one-possession game five times down the stretch before the Black & Gold began to pull away, leading by as much as nine points with 2:29 to go, from a 3-pointer by Tomashek—who scored the last ten points for the Huskies including a jumper and five foul shots to ultimately decide the game at 74-68.
Tomashek led MTU with 32 points and eight boards, marking his 11th career 30-point game and his fifth of the season. Nordgaard joined Tomashek in double-figure scoring, nearing his career-high with 16 points (5-9) as Josh Terrian recorded a team-leading three assists.
Rob Lee, Jr., fresh off a 40-point outing on Thursday, led WSU with 19 points as Roy Williams, Jr. and Paul III each garnered five rebounds.
Up Next
The Huskies take to the road for a tall task against two top-10 foes facing No. 6 ranked Lake Superior State on Thursday (7:30 p.m.) before traveling to No. 4 ranked Ferris State (3 p.m.) on Saturday.
