EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The Michigan Tech men’s basketball season came to an end Tuesday night with a 65-62 loss to Truman State in the NCAA Div. II Midwest Region championship.

The Huskies overcame a 10-point halftime deficit but fell just short in the final seconds, missing a chance to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history.

“We came up a tad bit short,” said Huskies head coach Kevin Luke. “Truman is a really good team and I am proud of our comeback, this team, and the season as a whole. Our guys gave everything they had in every practice and every game. I asked them to go through a lot this season and they responded every time. It was an incredible effort to make it to the Region Championship this year.”

Cade McKnight made the difference for Truman State (20-2) with a game-high 21 points. Owen White played an incredible second half for the Huskies and finished with 19 points, four rebounds, and two assists in the loss. Trent Bell was effective again with 12 points and seven rebounds. Michigan Tech finished the year 15-8 and qualified for the NCAA Div. II tournament for the 11th time.

Trent Bell hit a three from the top of the key and the Huskies went on an 11-2 run to start the second half, closing the gap to 30-29 and a Truman State timeout. Carl dropped a triple to give Tech its first lead of the game 32-30 with 15:20 remaining. The Huskies offense continued to fire and a kick-out pass from Johnston to Bilski gave MTU a 41-32 lead with 12:28 left to play.

Bilski took a charge in the lane with 9:09 left and the Huskies stayed in front 46-42. The Bulldogs swung the momentum again when they tied the score 49-49 with just over five minutes left. The teams traded baskets as the clock ran under two minutes.

Owen White knocked in a 3-pointer to give the Huskies a 58-57 edge with 1:58 remaining. McKnight put TSU back on top and after a video review, but White’s made three free throws under immense pressure for a 60-59 score. McKnight went 2 for 2 at the line on Truman State’s next possession and Coach Luke called a timeout with 26.4 seconds remaining.

Owen White went to the rim with a left-hand hook and drew a foul. He then made both free throws and Tech went in front 62-61 with 13.4 seconds left. Coming out of a timeout, McKnight scored in the paint with 4.7 seconds left. Carter Johnston inbounded from the baseline and the ball went off of White’s fingertips in front of the scorer’s table and out of bounds, giving possession back to the Bulldogs with 4.4 seconds left.

Three players made it to double-figures for the Huskies, including White (19 points), Carl (13 points) and Bell (12 points).