HOUGHTON — The Ferris State Bulldogs stayed one-step ahead of the Michigan Tech Huskies on Friday night at the Wood Gym and came away with a 60-57 win. The loss snapped the Huskies five-game winning streak as they move now to 6-2 on the season. Ferris State improved to 5-6.

According to Tech head coach Kevin Luke, if his team had shown the same intensity through the whole that they demonstrated in the last five minutes, the Huskies might have had a better outcome. Tech came within four points of Ferris with just two minutes on the clock but that was as good as it got.

“As we were down by 12, the guys stepped up and saw an urgency on the court,” said Luke. “We need to bring that urgency from the start.”

While Tech won the opening tip off, it was the Bulldogs who won the battle for energy and aggressiveness in the first 20 minutes both on the court and on the bench.

“The two keys to success that we talked about before the game were to not turn the basketball over and not give them second shots,” said Luke. “But we did not do too well on either of these. In the first half, we had 10 turnovers, and they had seven offensive rebounds. We had one (offensive rebound).”

The Huskies struggled to find the net as they shot just 26 percent from the field in the first. While they moved the ball around well, a Bulldog press and an in-your-face defense didn’t allow many open shots for Tech. Several times in both halves the Huskies were forced to throw up off-balanced shots as the shot clocked dwindle to zero.

As well, they faced a taller and bulkier Bulldog team. For instance, the Bulldog’s 6-foot-11 center, Vejas Grazulis had 12 points and was unstoppable in the paint.

“Credit to them as they are bigger than us in a number of positions,” said Luke. “However, we need to develop some depth so that we can put guys in that situation to match that.”

The Huskies were down 23-18 by halftime.

They returned to the floor a little more composed for the second half. However, the Huskies could never overcome a five-to-eight-point deficit.

“I think we did some good things offensively to get shots in the second half,” added Luke. “When we swung the ball side to side, that was when our offense gave us a chance to make a shot.”

On the bright side, the Huskies had two players with double doubles. Dawson Bilski led the scoring with 24 points and 10 rebounds. He was followed by Owen White who poured in 18 points and also had 10 rebounds.

“I think that is a positive thing we can build on,” said Luke. “At the same time, we need to have balance. We need to have everybody scoring in order to be successful.”

As well, the Huskies were able to limit the Bulldog’s top shooter Walt Kesler to just 16 points. He averages 22 points a night.

“He is a prolific scorer, and he can get a shot off on anybody,” stated Luke. “But I thought our guys played really hard on him.”

Luke added that he is expecting the same type of game today.

“It will be an aggressive game on their part, and we will need to up our energy as well.” he said.

Tip off is set for 3 p.m. today at the Wood Gym.

FSU 23 37 — 60

MTU 18 39 — 57