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Huskies men working on new winning streak at home

David Archambeau/For the Gazette Michigan Tech guard Pete Calcaterra attempts a layup during a game against Roosevelt Saturday at the SDC Gym in Houghton.

By DAVER KARNOSKY

dkarnosky@mininggazette.com

HOUGHTON — Since Saturday, Nov. 23, the Michigan Tech Huskies are on what is colloquially known as a “heater.” They have won eight of their last night games, nine of their last 10 if you count exhibition contests, and have jumped to 10-4 overall and 5-1 in GLIAC play.

Their lone hiccup was a 73-71 loss in overtime at Davenport. However, they bounced back with a 51-point first half in a win over their rivals, the Northern Michigan Wildcats, on Thursday, and then shot 50% from beyond the arc in a win over the Roosevelt Lakers on Saturday.

“We came out and hit a ton of shots in the first half, which is wild,” said Huskies coach Josh Buettner. “You saw the shots we missed against Davenport, but the bigger thing we had, we did have (Dawson) Nordgaard not in follow trouble, and having that inside presence to keep the game a little bit more balanced. The guys, obviously, didn’t feel sorry for themselves. They were excited to come out and play and played really well.”

Also a positive for the Huskies was the play of senior guard Pete Calcaterra, who set a new career high in points in a game with 24 in the win over Roosevelt on Saturday. Despite the fact that he only scored six points in the win over Northern Michigan, Buettner loved the effort Calcaterra played with in both games.

“It’s huge, especially to have the balance, and we’ve been really, really balanced at home,” saud Buettner. “It’s been a lot of different players, and to have Marcus (Tomashek take) seven shots, and have a relatively quiet night for him, Pete just, I mean he’s a big physical kid, and he played like it.

“I actually thought Pete played really well against Northern. I thought that was as good a week as he’s had. If we can keep him playing at that level for a couple more months here, we’ll be a better team.”

As Calcaterra continues to find success with the Huskies, a new player is beginning to emerge as a consistent threat from nearly everywhere on the floor. Freshman guard Ty Fernholz is proving that defenses who leave him open will pay dearly. He is averaging 50.6% from behind the 3-point line. He went 9-for-14 last week.

“He’s a great shooter,” Buettner said. “I mean, that’s why we recruited him. He’s putting in the time and obviously making some shots has built up his confidence. He’s shooting as confident as you’re ever going to expect, especially for a freshman. It’ll be tough for him to keep up the percentages and the efficiency that he has right now, because teams are looking for him now that second he crosses half court.

“So, finding open looks for him is going to continue to get tougher. Obviously that takes some gravity away from Marcus and ‘Dodge’ (Nordgaard), and other guys’ shots are going to get more and more open. Those are the things you’re looking for when you’re trying to be hard to guard.”

While players like Tomashek, Calcaterra, Nordgaard, and Fernholz put up the kinds of numbers that lead the Huskies on a given night, the other thing that is a growing positive for the Black and Gold has been the timely shooting of players like junior guards Nate Abel and Josh Terrian.

“Sometimes, it gets lost when guys are turning down some shots, and maybe not always hitting them, but, sometimes that’s the thing that allows somebody like Marcus and Ty and those guys to be successful,” said Buettner. “Guys are willing to do the dirty work and move it, and constantly be trying to get those guys shots. They’re good shooters. Josh and Nate are both in practice. There’s lots of days where they’re hitting a ton of threes. You don’t always see that when you only watch the games. But, we’re confident in that.

“You saw that at the end of the Davenport game. We’re down three. We ran a play for Josh, and he stepped up and knocked it down. Obviously, it took us to overtime and we didn’t win the game, but there’s some big time shots. Nate hit some huge ones at Grand Valley. Obviously, Ty had the one that put us up, but Nate came out of a timeout, down five, and hit the one that probably kept us in the game.”

As the Huskies continue to find ways to win games, Buettner said that he can see a difference in the locker room.

“We have a locker room that’s really playing for each other,” he said. “Some of that’s leadership, some of that’s…there’s just that feel, even they knew they didn’t play their best at Davenport. But, you can go all the way back to the (Minnesota State-)Moorhead game, it was late in that game, and ever since then, they just kind of looked at each other. We were on a three-game losing streak, and things aren’t going well. That would have been an easy game, yeah, Moorhead’s a really good team. We’ll come back and try to get the next one. They’re like, ‘Oh, let’s get this one.'”

Ever since then, Davenport has been the only slip up. We have a good togetherness right now, and there’s going to be some more struggles over the next whatever we got left, 14 regular season games here. The league is really good. Hopefully we can continue to improve and that bond stays strong.”

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS

The Saginaw Valley State Cardinals are 6-8 overall and 2-4 in GLIAC play after splitting last week with a win over Purdue Northwest and a loss to Wisconsin-Parkside.

The Cardinals are led by senior guard Toodles Seal, who is playing well, as he is also averaging 14.9 points per game. Senior guard Freddie McIntosh, who is averaging 14.2 points per game, is right behind him.

Junior forward Elijah Mattingly has been solid in the 12 games he has played, as he is averaging 10.3 points per game.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS

The Wayne State Warriors are 7-7 overall and 3-3 in GLIAC play after a sweep last weekend of Wisconsin-Parkside and Purdue Northwest.

The Warriors are led by junior guard Carmelo Harris, who is averaging 15.9 points per game. Junior guard Tamario Adley has also been good, averaging 12.8 points per game. Sophomore guard Rob Lee is also chipping in, averaging 13.3 points per game.

GAME TIMES

The Huskies and Cardinals will tip off at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the SDC Gym. Saturday, the Huskies and Warriors are set to start at 2 p.m.

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