Michigan Tech guard Marcus Tomashek attempts a shot during a game against Grand Valley State on Saturday, Jan. 21, at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

BIG RAPIDS, Mich. — Michigan Tech trailed by five through 20 minutes, but Ferris State opened the second half on a 17-4 scoring run to pull away from the Huskies 78-50 at Jim Wink Arena Thursday night. The Huskies dropped to 0-9 on the road. Solomon Oraegbu led the Bulldogs with 20 points and five rebounds.

“I give credit to our guys for fighting,” said head coach Josh Buettner. “The first half we were clawing and battling. In the second half, we just couldn’t buy a basket even when we had good looks. We had a couple of mental mistakes right out of the gate, but then Josh (Terrian) brought some grit and toughness which helped us a lot. We have to get back to that type of mentality on defense for a complete game and once we do, we’ll give ourselves a chance.”

Ferris State (16-5, 7-3 GLIAC) moved into a four-way tie for first place in the conference standings with Northern Michigan, Wisconsin Parkside, and Lake Superior State. The Huskies (4-15, 1-9) stayed two games from a playoff spot with Davenport and Purdue Northwest also losing Thursday night.

Oraegbu shot 7-for-10 from the field and Ethan Erickson provided 15 points off the bench for FSU. Brad Simonsen led the Huskies with 11 points in 20 minutes off the bench.

Michigan Tech shot 28.6 percent (18-63) from the field, including 32 percent from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs had a strong rebounding advantage, 42-26 but committed 17 turnovers, compared to 15 for MTU.

Ferris State shot 58.8 percent overall and connected on 62.1 percent of its second-half field goals in the win. The Bulldogs finished six-of-12 (50 percent) from long range and went 12-of-15 (80 percent) at the free throw stripe.

Josh Terrian passed a team-high four assists to go with six points and Marcus Tomashek added eight points, four rebounds, and a pair of steals.

Up next

The Huskies conclude their weekend road trip at Lake Superior State Saturday at 3 p.m. in Sault Ste. Marie.