Michigan Tech senior Kyle Monroe, left, grabs the ball against Northern Michigan on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, in Marquette, Mich. (Ryan Spitza/Marquette Mining Journal)

MARQUETTE — Every one in awhile a sports fan will be scanning the box score of a game from the previous night and they’ll do a double-take when they see an unbelievable stat.

That unbelievable stat in Thursday night’s GLIAC men’s basketball game between Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan was the Huskies’ abilities from long range.

Tech shot 18 of 20 from beyond the arc for a whopping 90 percent, helping the visitors to a convincing 91-61 win over the Wildcats at the Berry Events Center on the final night of regular season play.

The sharpshooting Huskies went nearly 62 percent shooting for the entire game, led by senior Kyle Monroe with 32 points.

With the win, MTU finished the conference slate with a record of 14-6 and 20-8 overall, good for the No. 3-seed in the GLIAC tournament which tips off on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Northern can breathe a sigh of relief. Despite the frustrating loss, the Wildcats locked up the eighth and final seed in the GLIAC tournament via tie-breaking procedures over Lake Superior State. Both NMU and LSSU finished the conference schedule with records of 9-11 and 12-16 overall.

After NMU senior Sam Taylor cut the deficit to 45-43 early in the second half thanks to a triple of his own, it was all Huskies from that point on, hitting shot after shot to drop their rivals by 30. The win also snapped a three-game skid to NMU.

Tech head coach Kevin Luke said even he was perplexed by his team’s video game-like three-point stats.

“Northern Michigan never quit, but we just shot it so well,” he said. “Eighteen of 20, that’s really shooting it. I did not know it was that and it was a great display by our guys. We’ve had some good shooting games, but not that high. When you get on a roll, that’s exactly what happened. Nothing really changed in the game except for our guys getting a little more confident.”

Luke also credited Monroe for leading the way on every inch of the floor.

“He’s dynamic because he can score at all levels,” he said. “He’s really hard to guard because if he hits that three, it loosens things up for him inside. We try to keep a balance with him as far as inside out goes. We let him pick and choose a little bit of what happens there.

In the other locker room, it was first frustration, and then relief for NMU head coach Matt Majkrzak and his team. The frustration turned to joy after the Wildcats found out they had still made it into the postseason.

“We’re in, and to be honest with you, that was the result going into the day that was the most important,” he said. “I’m obviously really frustrated with losing by 30, but overall that was the most important.”

The Wildcats suffered a huge blow early in the first half when senior center Myles Howard went down with an injury. At that point, NMU held its own as long as it could.

“The whole game plan revolved around Myles,” Majkrzak said. “And then Myles gets hurt, which right now, feels worse than the result. That’s one of the things I’m most disappointed about in the sense that he’s such a great kid and great person, and you just hate to see that happen to him in his last home game of his senior year.

“On top of that, Tech played unbelievably well and their shooting performance was as good as I’ve ever seen. Early on, we gave them some looks I wasn’t thrilled with, but at the same time, you can give any team an open shot and they’ll still knock it down at 40 percent. These guys knocked them down at 90 percent and that’s very impressive. I was almost laughing at the end, because everything they were firing up was going in.”

After draining nine straight triples to begin the game, the Huskies took a 43-35 lead at halftime. Tech finished the first half 9 of 11 from range.

Taylor’s shot which brought the Huskies’ lead down to two came just under three minutes into the second half.

The GLIAC tournament begins on Tuesday with Tech hosting No. 6-seeded Saginaw Valley State (16-12, 10-10 GLIAC). The Wildcats will travel to Big Rapids to face No. 1-seed and No. 11-ranked Ferris State (27-5 16-4 GLIAC).

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

MICHIGAN TECH (91): Bell 3-0-9, Monroe 11-4-32, Appleby 5-0-11, Bilski 6-0-16, White 6-0-14, Carl 1-0-3, Robarge 1-0-2, Carter 0-1-1, Schmitz 1-0-3. Totals 34-5-91.

NORTHERN MICHIGAN (61): Taylor 4-0-11, Matelski 1-0-3, Olayinka 3-2-8, Fruin 4-1-12, Wolf 3-5-11, Parcher 2-0-5, Kuehl 3-1-7, Jones 1-1-4. Totals 21-10-61.

MTU 43 48 — 91

NMU 35 26 — 61

FG shooting: Michigan Tech 34 of 55 (61.8 percent); Northern Michigan 21 of 62 (33.9 percent); 3-point shooting: Michigan Tech 18 of 20 (90 percent); Northern Michigan 9 of 25 (36 percent); FT shooting: Michigan Tech 5 of 8 (62.5 percent); Northern Michigan 10 of 11 (90.9 percent); Rebounding: Michigan Tech 32 (Monroe 7); Northern Michigan 32 (Taylor and Olayinka 8); Assists: Michigan Tech 19 (Bell, Appleby and Carl 4); Northern Michigan 7 (Taylor 4); Steals: Michigan Tech 3 (Monroe 2); Northern Michigan 2 (Olayinka and Fruin 1); Turnovers: Michigan Tech 7; Northern Michigan 5.