Michigan Tech guard Gabe Smith dunks during a GLIAC quarterfinal game against Davenport Wednesday at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — Josh Buettner had a smile on his face after the game, but, at the same time, he knew his team had just survived a battle Wednesday at the SDC Gym. The No. 15 Michigan Tech Huskies men’s basketball team earned a 72-70 GLIAC quarterfinal win over the Davenport Panthers.

It was, by no means, easy. Especially given the Huskies went 3-for-25 from beyond the arc. They made just two in the first half to hold a 31-28 lead at the buzzer.

“I told the guys at halftime, and then it was kind of the same lesson after (the game), it’s March,” Buettner said. “You can’t just have a bad shooting night and say, ‘Oh, we’ll shoot better next game and get it,’ because your season could be over. At halftime, when we’re 2-of-16 from 3, 5-of-10 from the (free throw) line, I felt like our shots were quite a bit better than theirs. They hit some tougher ones. We were missing some really good looks, and we’re only up three.

“We knew we were going to be in for one then, but we said this is a great test for what you need to do when shots aren’t falling. I thought we would make a few more at home.”

While the Huskies only hit three 3-pointers all night, Buettner loved most of what his team did for 38 minutes.

“For us to go 3-of-25 is pretty crazy, (Josh) Terrian hit a big one late, but we took care of the ball a little bit better in the second half up until the last two minutes,” said Buettner. “To shoot 3-of-25 in your own gym, and come out with a win, I’m really proud of our intensity on the defensive side of the ball. I thought we locked in.

“I thought we did a great job on the glass. I thought Nate (Abel) did a spectacular job on Walker. I know he got some points, but he had to earn everything. I don’t know if he got a clean look at it. He didn’t make many threes. He (Abel) did a heck of a job on him.”

It took nearly three minutes for either team to score, and that was a free throw from sophomore guard Gabe Smith. He promptly missed the second one, but redshirt senior forward Dawson Nordgaard grabbed the offensive rebound, which set the tone for the rest of the night from there.

“I thought we just had a great next-play mentality,” Buettner said, “when things weren’t going right the whole game.

“I was disappointed in the last two minutes. I don’t know if the seniors were a little nervous that it might be their last game in the ‘Wood Gym’ or what it is, but, hopefully, they got that out of their system. We need to execute. If it would have ended after 38 minutes when it was that constant next play mentality, and with things going wrong, we just kept going and kept making plays, I would have been in a great spot. The last two minutes were a little disappointing, just not closing it out. Finally, I thought Nordgaard did a heck of a job playing inside-out basketball today when the threes weren’t falling, and not getting doubled every time.”

Nordgaard had another layup 25 seconds later, then added a layup and a hook shot about 45 seconds apart to put the Huskies up 17-10 with 10:46 left in the first half. He finished his night going 6-of-8 from the floor and 5-of-8 from the free throw line for 17 points. He also had seven rebounds, including four offensive boards, to lead the Huskies.

“His numbers don’t always tell the story of how valuable he is to us,” said Buettner. “He’s drawn double teams sometimes when we have four shooters out there, and he’s a big part of everything we do. It’s awesome that he had some success. He was huge for us tonight.”

Sophomore guard Ty Fernholz hit the Huskies’ first 3-pointer 10:05 into the game. Abel, a senior guard, hit the second one 3:40 later, but that was it from beyond the arc in the first half.

In the second half, the Panthers jumped out ahead quickly, but the Huskies never let them get more than three points ahead. Buettner credited his team’s dedication to defense as being a part of why.

“I think it only got to three, and, honestly, the part that did it more was our defensive end there,” he said. “We answered a couple times, but then we missed a couple times. We kept getting the stops, which gave us a chance. That’s what we’ve hung our hat on all year, is getting some big stops. I was happy with that.”

Fernholz was awarded three free throws with 10:22 left, and he hit all three in sequence to help the Huskies open a four-point advantage, 49-45. From there, the Huskies had answers every time the Panthers tried to push.

Davenport switched to a full-court press late, and that caused issues for the Huskies in the final two minutes, which Buettner lamented. However, they opened a seven-point advantage, 71-64, with about 11 seconds left after senior guard Marcus Tomashek made a pair of free throws. That lead proved to be too much, despite a Curtis Jackson 3-pointer at the buzzer, which cut the lead down to two.

Freshman guard Jesse Napgezek finished with 13 points, going 9-of-12 from the free throw line. Tomashek added 12.

Jackson led all scorers in the game with 23 points for the Panthers. Ken Walker had 16 and Marshaun finished with 11.

Up next

The Huskies will head to Marquette for the GLIAC semifinals. They will take on Grand Valley State at Vandament Arena Saturday at 4:30 p.m.