Calaterra, Tomashek each score 22 points for Huskies
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A week after falling to Northern Michigan in the GLIAC Tournament Semifinals, the Michigan Tech men’s basketball team avenged the loss in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, backed by 22 points performances by Marcus Tomashek and Pete Calcaterra, in the 87-72 victory at the Recreation and Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon.
Calcaterra was two points shy of his career-high in points and recorded his sixth 20-point game of his career and his fourth of the season, going 8-of-8 in the second half to lead all scorers with 16 points. He also led the team in rebounds with four offensive and four on the defensive end. Tomashek recorded 11 points in each half, including 7-of-9 from the charity stripe in the second stanza.
Freshman Ty Fernholz chipped in 13 points (5-for-7), with three 3-pointers as Josh Terrian reached double-figures with 10 points for the first time in six games.
For the game, the Huskies shot 50.8 percent from the field (31-for-61) while going 10-of-26 from 3-point land. The Wildcats also hit 10 3-pointers on 21 attempts.
“As a whole, we didn’t show what we were made of at home in the GLIAC Tournament in front of a full gym,” Tech head coach Josh Buettner said. “I thought our guys came out focused and executed the game plan—we were really aggressive on the boards, guys stepped up and made shots, it wasn’t all Marcus, he got us going to start the game but then Pete was huge not only getting buckets but he also made Kuehl miss some shots on defense. Kuehl is a great help defender and a shot blocker, but sometimes the best thing to do against a shot blocker is just go right at them. Tomorrow will be more mental than physical and in hindsight to have the noon game to have a couple more hours to rest.”
The Huskies got the 3-point shot going early and often, with Tomashek knocking down three triples in the first 4:30 to jump out to a 9-5 advantage. A 12-5 run for the Black & Gold out of the media break pushed the Huskies ahead by nine points with 3-pointers from Terrian and Fernholz sandwiched between two baskets in the paint from Calcaterra, capped by a fastbreak layup by Adam Hobson, making it a 21-12 game with 11:18 to play.
Michigan Tech held a double-digit lead from that point to the 4:56 mark off a 3-pointer by Dylan Kuehl before cutting the lead to five points off a basket in the paint a minute and a half later. However, the Huskies closed the half strong, stringing together an 11-3 with Terrian and Fernholz adding their second 3-pointers of the day down the stretch to enter halftime leading 42-29.
Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field and scored over 40 points, respectively, in the second half of play. The Huskies only hit two 3-pointers in the second 20 minutes but went 11-of-17 in the paint area, highlighted by the play of Calcaterra, who scored 10 points from the 15:38 mark to the 10:11 mark of the period to keep Michigan Tech ahead by double-digits (65-50). The Black & Gold used 26 points in the paint and 26 points off the bench in the second stanza to maintain a sizable double-digit edge.
Tomashek earned five points from the charity stripe in the final five minutes as Hobson and Terrian went 1-of-2 down the stretch before Drew Barrie came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds to play, deciding the game at 87-72.
Veterans Kuehl (20 points) and Bryan Parzych (13 points) were the Wildcats leading scorers as redshirt freshman Cal Klesmit also reached double-figure scoring with 10 points.
Up Next
The Huskies will play No. 2 seed Lake Superior State. The Lakers held off No. 7 seed Lincoln, MO 76-64. Tyson Edmondson scored 30 points for LSSU, 26 came in the first half when he shot eight of ten from three-point range.
