The Basics
Score: Michigan Tech 66, Saginaw Valley 60
Records: MTU (14-11, 12-6 GLIAC) | SVSU (15-10, 8-10 GLIAC)
SDC Wood Gymnasium - Houghton, Mich.
HOUGHTON, Mich.- The Saginaw Valley State men's basketball team is in the midst of a three-game road trip that continued on Saturday afternoon with a matchup against the Michigan Tech Huskies. The Cardinals trailed by a single point heading into halftime but Michigan Tech's timely three-point shooting helped them pull away with a 66-60 victory at the SDC Gymnasium at Tech.
Saginaw Valley got off to a solid start in the contest, scoring its first points off of a Husky turnover. Michigan Tech kept the Cardinals in check and kept the contest close, tying things up at 8-8 with 11:52 left in the first. The Cardinals would bounce back with a made three-pointer from Garrett Hall and a make from Wade Gelhaus that pushed the lead out to 13-8. Michigan Tech then slowly chipped-away at SVSU, which led by no more than five points. The turning point of the half came at the 2:36 mark, when the Huskies would grab the lead off a make from the paint.
C.J. Turnage's fifth and sixth points of the contest gave the Cardinals a 22-21 lead with 46 seconds to play in the first half. The Huskies would pull off the final shot of the half with just three seconds left on the shot clock to grab the 23-22 lead heading into halftime.
Michiagn Tech began the second half on defense and would lose the lead following a make from Turnage. Momentum then swung over to the Huskies, who would respond with a 9-0 scoring run that saw SVSU trailing 32-24 at the 17:40 mark in the second. The run was stopped by a timely three from Malik Garner, who made his fourth start of the season. SVSU then mounted a comeback attempt of its own, scoring four straight points to cut MTU's lead down to three. The run was short lived, however, as the Cardinals were unable to regain the lead despite trailing 46-43 with 6:22 remaining in the game.
Michigan Tech then began to pull away from the Cardinals, as the three-point shooting began to heat up for the Huskies. MTU scored via the three-pointer on its next three possessions and jumped out to a 55-45 lead with 4:33 to go. The Huskies lead fell to 60-52 after a make from deep from Malik Garner at the 2:36 mark. MTU then regained a double-digit lead on the Cardinals, jumping ahead 62-52 on SVSU after draining a pair of free throws.
The Cardinals were able to pull within four points of the Huskies with just six seconds left. Michigan Tech would step to the free throw line with five seconds remaining and sink a pair of free throws to secure the 66-60 over the Cardinals.
Inside the Boxscore
- Wade Gelhaus matched his career-high with 12 rebounds while chipping-in with 11 points for the Cardinals. He played a team and season-high 39 minutes and was tabbed as the Meijer "Player of the Game."
- C.J. Turnage recorded his second straight double-double, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds while recording one steal and a block. He played in 33 minutes of today's contest.
- Devin Dixon posted a solid performance off the bench for SVSU, contributing 11 points and grabbing eight rebounds in just 16 minutes of action.
- Malik Garner stepped into the starting lineup and performed well. He scored 12 points and had three assists and matched his season-high in three-pointers made by going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.
- SVSU won the rebounding battle over Michigan Tech by a 39-30 margin. The Cardinals grabbed 11 offensive boards while the Huskies pulled in five on the offensive glass.
- SVSU outscored the Huskies in the paint, 23-7.
Up Next...
The Cardinals complete their three-game road trip with a stop in Sault Ste. Marie on Thursday night (Feb. 16) to face off with the Lake Superior State Lakers. Tip-off from Cooper Gymnasium is set for 7:30 p.m. The Cardinals defeated the Lakers, 69-65, back on Jan. 26 at O'Neill Arena.
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