The Huskies men’s basketball team (13-10, 10-6 GLIAC) traveled downstate to face the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals (10-14, 7-9 GLIAC) and the Northwood Timberwolves (9-15, 5-11 GLIAC) in the final road series of the regular season for the Huskies. The Huskies fell in heartbreaking fashion Thursday to the Cardinals 105-94 in double overtime but bounced back to defeat the Timberwolves 75-70. In the game against SVSU junior Kyle Monroe tied Larry Grimes school record for most points scored in a single game at 50. Grimes scored 50 points in a game against St. Cloud State on Jan. 29, 1972. Monroe also holds the GLIAC record for most points in a game this season so far.
Thursday, Feb. 8, saw the Huskies get off to a hot start as senior A.J. Grazulis converted a layup and junior Bryan Heath knocked down a three for an early 5-0 lead for MTU. A couple minutes later, a couple free throws by sophomore Ryan Schuller and a three by freshman Dawson Bilski made it a 10-0 lead for the Huskies. The Cardinals knocked down a couple free throws for their first points of the game with 15:57 left in the first half.
Two threes by Monroe and a three by Heath put the Huskies up 22-8 with 12:50 left in the first half, forcing Saginaw Valley to call a timeout. Following the timeout Schuller and senior Tanner Uren converted layups to make the score 26-8 MTU. Both teams went basket for basket until there was nine minutes left in the first, when the Cardinals converted two free throws, a three, and a layup to pull to 11, 30-19.
Two threes by the Cardinals brought SVSU to ten, trailing the Huskies 41-31 with 3:41 left in the first. However, layups by Heath and Monroe put the Huskies up 45-31 with just over two minutes left in the first. The Cardinals answered right back converting a layup, two free throws and a jump shot to make it an eight-point game 45-37. Monroe nailed a layup to go into halftime with the score MTU 47, SVSU 37.
Both teams converted on layups to start the second half. SVSU made it a seven-point game 52-45 following a free throw with 14:44 left in the game. Monroe answered back for the Huskies with two threes to put the Huskies back up by double digits, 58-45. A free throw, layup, and a three by the Cardinals pulled SVSU back to seven 58-51 with 12:36 left in the game.
Two threes and a free throw brought the Cardinals within two with 11:15 left in the game, making it 60-58 MTU. From there the Cardinals knocked down another three and converted a layup to take the lead 63-60, forcing the Huskies to take a timeout. A layup by Schuller and a three by Uren retook the lead for the Huskies 65-63.
The Huskies and Cardinals battled, answering each other anytime someone made a basket. A layup, jumper, and a free throw made it a five-point game with a minute and a half remaining, 83-78 MTU. Another three by Monroe following a layup and free throw by the Cardinals made it 86-81 MTU with 36 seconds remaining, forcing SVSU to call a timeout.
A three and a layup in back to back possessions by the Cardinals tied the game up at 86 apiece with 17 seconds remaining. However, Monroe couldn’t convert the free throw, resulting in overtime.
Overtime was a game of free throws for Tech, as all of MTU’s points were from free throws. However, SVSU had the 91-90 lead with two and a half minutes left in overtime. Monroe made the first free throw to tie the game at 91 each, and unfortunately missed the second to give the Cardinals the ball with eight seconds left. Fortunately, the Cardinals missed a three attempt to force overtime number two.
The Cardinals took off flying in the second overtime, knocking down a triple a minute into the second overtime to take the 94-91 lead. A layup and a three by the Cardinals forced the Huskies to take a timeout with 1:44 remaining. Sophomore Isaac Appleby converted a jump shot for Tech’s first points of the second overtime, however, the Cardinals responded with another three and a layup to take the 104-93 lead with 43 seconds left. Both teams converted a free throw each to end the game in favor of the Cardinals 105-94.
The Huskies were led in scoring by Monroe who finished with 50, followed by Heath with 18. Schuller came off the bench and contributed nine points, while Bilski finished with six, and Uren finished with five. Appleby finished with four, and Grazulis finished with two. Monroe completed the double-double by notching up 11 rebounds to lead the Huskies, and Uren led the Huskies with seven assists. Appleby, Monroe, Grazulis, and Schuller each had a block.
On Saturday, Feb. 10, the Huskies started the game down 2-0 early, before Bilski knocked down a trey to make it 3-2 MTU. Both teams battled, matching each other basket for basket. A basket by Grazulis made it a two-point game 18-16 in favor of the Timberwolves, but, Northwood went on a 10-0 run to make it a twelve-point game at 28-16 with seven minutes left in the first half.
A three by Monroe sparked a Husky 5-0 run to pull within seven, 28-21. A jumper and two threes by Heath pulled the Huskies within two, making it 31-29 Northwood with two minutes left in the first half. However, the Timberwolves finished the first half on a 4-0 run to go into halftime up 35-29.
Following halftime, the Timberwolves converted a layup prior to a 7-0 run by Tech, to pull the Huskies within one at 37-36. Following the Huskies 7-0 run, both teams matched basket for basket for a few minutes. However, the Timberwolves converted two layups and two free throws to take a 48-40 lead with 12 and a half minutes remaining. A layup by Grazulis was quickly answered by Northwood with a three to make it a nine-point advantage for the Timberwolves at 51-42 with 12 minutes remaining.
Two free throws for both Appleby and Bilski, and a layup by Schuller brought the Huskies within three at 51-48 with 10:25 left in the game. Just over three minutes later, Uren and Monroe each knocked down layups to take a 56-55 lead. However, the Timberwolves went on a 7-2 run to retake the lead, 62-58 with four and a half minutes left.
A layup, jumper, and two free throws by Monroe tied the game at 64 apiece with two and a half minutes remaining. Both teams went basket for basket, eventually being tied at 68 with just under a minute left. However, a three by Appleby put a nail in the coffin for the Timberwolves, as the Huskies nailed a few free throws to go on to victory 75-70.
Heath led the Huskies in scoring with 19, followed closely behind by Monroe with 18. Grazulis finished with 12, and Appleby rounded out the players in double digits with 11. Schuller finished with eight, while Bilski finished with five, and Uren finished with two. Bilski led the Huskies with four rebounds, while Appleby finished with six assists to lead MTU. Schuller had two blocks, while Appleby finished with one block.
“We had a little bit of a lull from Thursday to start the game, but I thought our team really responded well and we played a great second half to come back,” said Tech head coach Kevin Luke.
The Huskies will be at home the rest of the regular season, as they look to snap the 13-game winning streak of the third-ranked Ferris State Bulldogs (25-1, 15-1 GLIAC) on Thursday, with tip-off projected for 7:30 p.m. Then on Saturday the Huskies will look to take down U.P. foe, the Lake Superior State Lakers (18-6, 12-4 GLIAC) with tip-off projected for 3 p.m.
The Bulldogs are coming off a weekend sweep of the Tiffin Dragons, winning 80-55, and the Ashland Eagles, winning 97-91 in overtime. The Lakers split on the weekend, losing to the Eagles 69-62, but defeating the Dragons 80-76. Both the Lakers and Bulldogs defeated the Huskies on the road earlier this year, with the Bulldogs winning 85-66, and the Lakers winning 84-73.
