HOUGHTON, Mich. – Saginaw Valley State University junior guard Freddie McIntosh led the way with a career-high 31 points as the Cardinals (6-2, 1-0 GLIAC) earned a 78-77 win over Michigan Tech in Houghton, Michigan on Thursday night. The win extends SVSU's winning streak to six.
Tre Garrett contributed 16 points to the winning effort while Toodles Seal scored 12. The trio also made all of their free throws, combining for a perfect 12-12 from the charity stripe. McIntosh finished the game shooting 11-17 from the floor with three successes from three. Dylan West led with five rebounds while scoring six points. Seal was the team leader in assists with four.
Garrett got things going with a layup before McIntosh hit a three on the next possession to give the Cardinals a 5-0 lead in the first 70 seconds of regulation. The Huskies battled back to tie the game at five before the teams traded leads for the remainder of the first 20 minutes. An 8-0 run by Michigan Tech gave them a 16-11 lead with 14:42 left, but SVSU responded with a 10-0 run to flip the five-point advantage in the other direction. McIntosh hit a layup with 5:48 remaining before the half to give Saginaw Valley the largest lead of the opening period, 30-24. MTU hit a series of three-pointers down the stretch as the Huskies pulled ahead to a 40-36 edge at the break.
Ethan Hill made a shot to start the second half as the score remained close throughout the first portion of the second. The Cardinals stayed within one possession of Michigan Tech, but couldn't recapture the lead until West made a layup with 9:19 on the clock to ease the score to 62-61. McIntosh made a jumper and a free throw to grow the lead to four points (65-61), but just like the first part of the half, the score stayed within one possession. A three-pointer at 2:27 flipped the advantage to MTU, but McIntosh completed two free throws to regain the edge and the teams traded buckets and the lead into the final 60 ticks. Curtis Jackson put the game away with a layup with 17 seconds left and the Cardinal defense tightened to hold on for the win.
There were 18 ties and 28 lead changes in the tightly contested GLIAC opener. SVSU outscored MTU 38-18 in the paint and held the advantage in rebounds, 35-29. The Cardinals shot 48.4% from the floor and made 14-16 free throws.
The Saginaw Valley State University men's hoops team will remain in the upper peninsula for a matchup against Northern Michigan on Saturday, December 9. The game is set to begin at 1:00 p.m.