Huskies men win 15th of the season by topping Lakers again

HOUGHTON — Over the previous two seasons, the Michigan Tech Huskies men’s basketball team won a combined 21 games. With an 81-66 victory Saturday at the SDC Gym over the Grand Valley State Lakers, the Huskies earned their 15th win of the season. They also remain undefeated at home at 9-0.
“The No. 1 thing we talk about is our defensive level needs to be there,” said Huskies coach Josh Buettner. “Shots will go in, shots won’t go in, some nights, but if you’re guarding, you’re going to give yourself a chance. Obviously, at home, it’s more likely that the shots go in, especially from guys outside of Marcus (Tomashek) and ‘Dodge’ (Dawson Nordgaard) and some of our mainstay scorers. It feels like, at home, everybody has confidence to shoot in that gym. So, a lot of times we spread the wealth a little bit more here, but as long as we’re guarding, and giving ourselves a chance in that right competitive level, it’ll be there. Obviously, we have a huge road trip coming up, but some of the teams at the top of the standings still have to come here.”
Tomashek led the Huskies with 24 points. Nordgaard added 14.
While the score Saturday ended up lopsided, it started much closer, with the Lakers holding small leads for much of the first nine and a half minutes.
“Credit to Grand Valley,” Buettner said. “I thought they came out and really competed hard. Obviously, they had a tough game on Thursday, and they were ready to play. They really got after it defensively. They had some guys step up and make some shots early, and I thought our guys fought. I thought they really guarded according to the scout. A couple of guys that hit threes in the first half were the guys that we wanted shooting.
“I thought we rebounded well. We really need to get back in transition. For the most part, I thought we did that. We honestly have been telling them we want to crash the glass a little bit harder, and we had seven offensive rebounds in the first half, (which) led to 14 second-chance points, which is huge. Just as a whole, I thought we competed. The competitive effort was there. The defensive standard that we’re trying to set was there, and that’s a good win against a good team.”
The game first started to turn when sophomore guard Matt Schmainda hit a 3-pointer with 10:28 left in the first half. That gave the Huskies the lead back at 19-17. From there, they never looked back.
Schmainda was one of four Huskies to finish in double figures with 11 points. His second 3-pointer came with about 38 seconds left in the first half off a huge defensive block by senior guard Adam Hobson, who not only stopped a layup attempt, but he fed the ball down the floor for Schmainda, who hit his shot from outside the arc.
Hobson finished with 13 points, six rebounds, an assist and the block.
“It was definitely a huge energy play,” Hobson said of his block and the later 3-pointer from Schmainda. “Had kind of a tougher closeout on 20 (Marcus Gray). I was able to stay kind of on his side. (I) knew I wanted to go contest without fouling. He kind of showed the ball, went and (I) got a piece of it, obviously. Thankfully, it stayed in-bounds. (I) got to turn around and go make a play, just taking what the defense gives.
“Matt was spectacular after Thursday. His time got a little cut short with some fouls, so I’m glad he got to come out and knock down some shots and be a spark for us as well.”
After Schmainda’s 3-pointer, the Huskies led 44-33, which was the advantage they took into the locker room at halftime.
Both Hobson and Schmainda were part of the Huskies’ 28 points off the bench in the game.
The Lakers jumped on the Huskies again to start the second half, cutting the lead down to six at 44-37, but that was as close as they got before Tomashek made a pair of layups and got and-one while he was at it.
From there, the Huskies rolled to their second win over the Lakers this season.
“I hope it means a lot,” Buettner said. “I think they could tell I was probably a little bit more on edge than normal, from shootaround on today, just knowing how hard it is to beat teams in the GLIAC twice, and there’s a ton of tough challenges coming ahead. I just want to make sure that we understand how hard we have to play, and how hard we have to compete, to continue being successful. Today, we showed it, and we have to keep doing it again.”
Hobson agreed with his coach.
“It’s spectacular,” he said. “We’re playing with a lot of confidence, especially in that gym. So, any time we get a chance to go out and play in front of our fans, we had a pretty packed crowd today, so that was a ton of fun. Any time we get a chance to go against a team like Grand Valley, where, especially in my five-year career, I probably played them more than any other team, it’s a blast to go down there, play in front of a packed Wood Gym for you, as a senior.”
UP NEXT
The Huskies, who improved to 10-2 in GLIAC play, go back out on the road this week, first taking on Wayne State Thursday in Detroit.