Huskies stayed tied with LSSU for lead in GLIAC
HOUGHTON, Mich. – For the first time since the 2013-14 season, the Michigan Tech men’s basketball team swept Ferris State with a 75-63 victory over the No. 20 ranked Bulldogs to remain unbeaten at the SDC Gymnasium on Thursday evening.
Michigan Tech improves to 17-6 overall and 12-3 in the GLIAC, while Ferris State drops to 20-6 overall and 10-5 in the loop.
“Ferris State has been the standard for a while and it shows that we have a chance to be a pretty good team being able to get the series sweep,” head coach Josh Buettner said. “To get a win with Marcus not hitting a field goal is really special and I was really happy with how he played. Hobson and Terrian both making four threes and Schmandia making two is huge. I think we had 35 points from the bench and that’s awesome. When we’re in our own gym we’ve got some confident guys shooting it. I was really proud of Hobson and Schmainda gave us a huge lift in the first half. Jimmy Scholler did a great job guarding Marcus so credit to him.”
The Huskies defensive efforts were incredible in the win, holding Ferris State to its second-lowest scoring game of the season. More impressively, the Black & Gold held the Bulldogs to just 2-of-14 from 3-point land (14.3%).
Ferris State controlled the game for the opening minutes although, Gabe Smith and Dawson Nordgaard’s inside presence made it a tie game at 6-all moments later. Pete Calcaterra erupted for six-straight points for the Black & Gold coming off the bench, giving the Huskies a 12-9 edge at the 12:53 mark. Josh Terrian added back-to-back triples at the halfway mark to extend MTU’s lead to 20-14. Adam Hobson added a 3-pointer off the bench before Smith, in his second career start, scored the final six points for Michigan Tech to help the Huskies enter halftime in a tie at 31-all, seeing Smith and FSU’s Owen Hardy lead the way with 10 points, respectively.
The Huskies trailed for the first four minutes of the second half with a dunk by Smith and a triple by Hobson, keeping the Black & Gold within reach before Michigan Tech regained the lead and pulled away from the Bulldogs.
Out of the media break, Hobson converted on a fastbreak layup before Peyton Lacombe found Schmainda for a transition 3-pointer to put the Huskies ahead by four with 14:48 to play.
With under 10 minutes to go, junior guard Marcus Tomashek finally reached the scoresheet with two free throws, extending the lead to seven points (53-46). Terrian hit another triple to push the lead to 10 points before Nordgaard dominated the paint, connecting on two free throws before a basket from close range.
The lead grew to as much as 15 points with 5:52 to play following the third 3-pointer of the day by Hobson, who finished with a season-high 16 points to lead the team. Hobson and Terrian would each record another 3-pointer down the stretch, with a layup by Hobson completing the series sweep with a final score of 75-63.
Despite a quiet night scoring, Tomashek finished with a career-high 11 rebounds to go with a team-leading six assists. Smith (14) and Terrian (12) joined Hobson in double-figure scoring, with Terrian recording a season-high in points.
“Obviously Ferris State is a very good program and they had a great game plan for Marcus,” Terrian added. “Some guys stepped up and hit some big shots and Marcus continues to trust us. It’s always great to beat Ferris and I’m just proud of the guys for how they played today, it was a great win.”
Reece Hazelton led the way for the Bulldogs with 13 points and six rebounds.
Up Next
The Huskies return to the SDC Gymnasium on Saturday, hosting No. 15 Lake Superior State at 2 p.m. for Senior Day.
