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Tech men look to continue momentum

Saturday’s 92-89 win over previously undefeated Walsh showcased the potential of the Michigan Tech men’s basketball team (3-4, 1-0 GLIAC).

The next step for Tech is to continue its momentum into Ohio, starting tonight at 7:30 p.m. with the Lake Erie College Storm (0-9, 0-2 GLIAC), and the Ohio Dominican Panthers (5-2, 1-1 GLIAC) Saturday at 3 p.m.

“Honestly, I think we’re heading down there with a lot of confidence,” Tech head coach Kevin Luke said. “We’re growing in this process. Everybody’s healthy, and we’re starting to look more about what we can look like, offensively, with (Kyle) Monroe back in there.”

Monroe scored 39 in Tech’s win, as the Huskies lit it up in the first half, scoring 60 points while shooting 73 percent, including 9 of 14 from 3. The 92 points is a season-high for Tech.

Just five days after facing the top team in the GLIAC South, the Huskies now face the worst team in the entire conference in Lake Erie. The Storm have lost every game in Kyle Conley’s first year as a head coach, and they’ve been outscored by an average of 82.7-71.2 in all nine of its losses. Lake Erie is second-to-last in points per game, and has the third-worst defense.

“They’re in that process of working with a new coach,” Luke said. “It’s a situation where we have to stress the fact that we have to get better and respect the game and play the game like it’s supposed to be played.”

Ohio Dominican, similar to Lake Erie, has never beaten the Michigan Tech men. Tech has won all six meetings, including last year’s 62-59 win at the Wood Gym. The Panthers are coming off a 62-59 victory over Grand Valley State (5-4, 1-1 GLIAC).

“(Ohio Dominican’s) going to be a tough one,” Luke said. “They’ve gotten a lot better over the last couple years. Dan Evans has done a nice job bringing in players there. We’ve had to overcome some double-digit deficits down there in the past, and we can’t afford to do that Saturday or we’ll be in trouble.”

BUSY WEEK

The distance to Lake Erie in Painesville, Ohio is 737 miles from Houghton. Along with preparing for their opponents on the road trip, the student-athletes will be studying for their exams next week.

“With the long road trip and the exams, we’re backing off as far as practice time,” Luke said. “We’re going to go hard, but it’s going to be short.

“The road takes a lot out of you, then the exams take that much more out of you, mentally,” Luke said. “We’re going to try to keep them somewhat fresh, if that’s even possible to do.”

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