WESTVILLE, Ind. – The Michigan Tech men’s basketball team battled back late in the second half to defeat Purdue Northwest 75-66 on the road in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown Saturday afternoon. The Huskies trailed most of the way but outscored the Pride 14-3 in the final three minutes to remain unbeaten in the conference and extend their winning streak to five games.

“Purdue Northwest is a dangerous team and they played hard today,” Michigan Tech Head Coach Kevin Luke said. “I’m not going to say that we weren’t ready to play, but we can’t be as average as were today at the beginning of games. To our guy’s credit though, we kept battling and pulled out the victory. We were able to get some key stops at crucial times towards the end of the game to put us over the top. They made it difficult on us because each time we tried to draw close they would come back with a key basket or two of their own. It’s all part of the process and once we get it we are going to be good.”

Kyel Monroe finished the afternoon as Tech’s leading scorer on the strength of 29 points and eight rebounds. Monroe was 11 for 11 at the free throw line and combined with Thursday’s performance was a perfect 27 for 27 on the week. Monroe also was successful on 7 of 7 attempts at the charity stripe against Northwood last Saturday, giving him 34 straight makes at the line which is a new school record. The previous mark of 33 was set by Ben Stelzer from December 6th, 2012 to February 7th, 2013.

Isaac Appleby followed Monroe with 11 points and Dillon Gordon rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points. A.J. Grazulis added nine points while freshman Trent Bell chipped in a season and career-high eight points. Heath tacked on eight points as well with senior Tanner Uren distributing a team-best four assists.

Tyree Coe guided Purdue Northwest with 23 points followed by Torrance Johnson with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The Huskies will be back on the court Sunday, Dec. 17th when they travel to Marquette to face rival Northern Michigan at 1 p.m.