HOUGHTON - The #20 Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team had another Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division matchup on Saturday (Feb. 14) afternoon, taking on the Michigan Tech University Huskies in Houghton, Michigan. Despite a good game shooting from the floor (51.0%), the Cardinals fell for the second time to the Huskies this season, this time by a score of 75-70 at the SDC Gymnasium.
The Cardinals grabbed an early lead and built their largest lead of the game at the 16:48 mark with the score 9-5 after sophomore C.J. Turnage made good on a layup attempt.
After the Huskies took the lead, a pair of free throws from sophomore Wade Gelhaus with 11:19 showing on the clock for the first half gave SVSU another lead at 13-12.
Michigan Tech would get the advantage back, building a lead and carrying a slim 31-28 lead into halftime.
Turnage led the offensive attack in the first 20 minutes of play, scoring eight points. Sophomore Garrett Hall added six first half points after draining a pair of three-point shots.
Tech built on that lead and posted its largest edge of the contest at the 17:37 marker, leading 40-30.
A Hall jumper with 12:59 to play cut the deficit to two points with the score 45-43. A Hall three-point play with 44 seconds left cut the deficit to 67-63 and he would hit another triple shortly after with just 25 ticks left to make the score 71-68 in the home team's advantage.
Time was not on SVSU's side, however, and Michigan Tech went 8-of-8 from the free throw line down the stretch to close-out for a five-point victory, 75-70.
SVSU hit on 51.0% (26-51) of its shots while Tech posted a 46.6 shooting percentage (27-58). The Cardinals shot well from the foul line, going 12-of-14. The Huskies owned the advantage on the glass, posting a 33-21 edge. Tech had a 17-7 edge in second chance points as well, grabbing 14 offensive rebounds.
Hall was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" after notching 23 points, adding three rebounds. Turnage added 15 points, four rebounds, three blocks and a pair of assists.
The Cardinals fall to 20-5 overall on the season with a 16-3 GLIAC mark while the Huskies improve to 17-6 and 14-5 in league play. SVSU is now tied record-wise (16-3) with Lake Superior State University atop the GLIAC standings following the Lakers' victory over Ferris State University. The Cards own the tiebreaker however, as SVSU claimed victory in both matchups with LSSU this season.
Saginaw Valley returns to its home court on Thursday (Feb. 19), as the Cardinals host the Grand Valley State University Lakers in another GLIAC North matchup. Tip-off is set for 8:00 pm at SVSU's James E. O'Neill Jr. Arena.