The Michigan Tech men’s basketball team poses after winning the Midwest Regional Championship Tuesday in North Canton, Ohio, with a win over top-seeded Walsh. The Huskies are: Marcus Tomashek, Matt Schmainda, Nate Abel, Jesse Napgezek, Drew Barrie, Ethan Heck, Josh Terrian, Connor Cameron, Layne Risdon, Gabe Smith, Alex Calcaterra, Ty Fernholz, Jacob MacPhee, Luke Hazelton, Dawson Nordgaard, Grant Warren, Peyton LaCombe, and Justin Bliesner. They are coached by Josh Buettner, Zach Flener, and Ryan Peterson. (Photo courtesy of Michigan Tech University)

NORTH CANTON, Ohio – The No. 16 ranked Michigan Tech Huskies men’s basketball team reached new heights for the program, winning its first-ever Midwest Regional Championship, downing No. 9 Walsh, 87-70, in the Alumni Arena Tuesday night, to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history.

Michigan Tech’s All-American, senior guard Marcus Tomashek, put on an all-time performance, scoring a game-high 33 points for the second time in the Midwest Region Tournament, shooting 50 percent from the field (11-of-22), while splashing in 7-of-11 3-pointers to earn the Midwest Region Tournament Most Valuable Player.

“I can’t even put into words what this means. I’m thinking about the seniors, some of them were the first that I recruited,” said Huskies coach Josh Buettner. “They believed in a vision, and I thought they were special and had a chance to do something.

“Obviously, Marcus was a first-team All-American tonight and went crazy. I’m just really happy, our guys were locked in and played as hard as they could for every possession.”

Tomashek set the tone early, hitting the opening shot to ensure the Huskies never trailed. The Green Bay, Wisconsin, native hit his first five shots, four of which were from beyond the arc, while redshirt senior forward Dawson Nordgaard added a layup to put Michigan Tech ahead 16-4 by the 16:42 mark, stunning a home crowd of 1,904 fans.

Freshman guard Jesse Napgezek and senior guard Nate Abel also reached double figures and were named to the Midwest Region All-Tournament team with 16 and 11 points, respectively. Sophomore guard Gabe Smith also reached double-figures with 11 points and a game-leading 11 rebounds for his eighth-career double-double.

The No. 3 seed Huskies also tied the program record for wins, improving to 26-6 for the season, while handing the No. 1 seed and host Cavaliers their fourth loss of the season, bowing out with a 29-4 record

Michigan Tech maintained a double-digit lead for most of the first half, getting up to as many as 15 points at the 13:46 mark, backed by a 51.6 percent shooting performance from the field with 19 from Tomashek, eight from Napgezek and two 3-pointers from Abel.

The Huskies’ stout defense held Walsh to 1-of-7 from three-point range in the first half, while sophomore guard Grant Warren was a force inside with three blocks, to hold a 44-35 lead entering halftime.

Walsh had momentum to start the second half, with Kobe Mitchell hitting 1-of-2 free throws while Brayden Gross capitalized on a Huskies turnover to cut the lead to six points. However, Michigan Tech fought back to a double-digit lead by the 14:37 mark with a dunk by Warren and a layup by Napgezek to make it 53-42.

From there, the Huskies put the game out of reach and deflated the crowd. Nordgaard posted seven-straight points with back-to-back layups and then an and-one after the under-12-minute media break before a fastbreak dunk by Smith and the third 3-pointer by Abel pushed Michigan Tech’s lead to 24 points, the largest lead of the day, 70-46.

Michigan Tech got ahead by 24 points once again with under six minutes to play with a fastbreak dunk by Smith from Abel, earning his fifth assist of the day.

The Cavaliers attempted to claw back into the contest with fouls and got to within 14 points with 1:49 to go, but were unable to close the gap enough to extend their season.

The Huskies finished shooting 54.7% from the field while going 11-of-27 from beyond the arc.

Walsh had a well-balanced attack with five players reaching double-figures, led by 16 points from Zack Oddo off the bench. He also led the Cavaliers with seven rebounds.

Up next

The Huskies advance to the Elite Eight, with the opponent to be announced on Wednesday, as the first game will be played on Wednesday, March 25.