HOUGHTON, Mich. -- The Michigan Tech men's basketball team moved
to 2-0 on the season with a 61-59 victory over Lewis tonight,
capping off action in the GLIAC/GLVC Challenge at the SDC Gym. For
the second straight night, the Huskies defense held its opponent
well under 40 percent field goal shooting.
"I feel great coming away with two wins this weekend," said head
coach Kevin Luke. "This was a good win against a scrappy team."
Tech had a 32-23 lead at halftime after hitting 50 percent of its
shots from the field and committing just two turnovers. Kris Alpers
opened the second half with a pair of free throws before the Flyers
battled back with 12 straight points. Stephan Bolt's tip-in at the
15:07 mark gave LU its first lead (35-34) since early in the first
half.
Despite the visitors staying with striking range the entire rest of
the way, that would be their only lead of the second frame. Lewis'
Jason Genova's layup made it a 53-51 score with 2:31 to play.
Senior Radayl Richardson then scored six straight points for Tech.
He connected on two free throws at the 2:04 mark, drained a huge
three-pointer at the 1:09 mark, and split a pair at the line with
:47 seconds to play.
It was still a seven point game with 10 seconds to play. The Flyers
scored six points on a three-point play and a triple at the buzzer
sandwiched around a Tim Strom free throw to make the final score
61-59.
"We had a lapse to start the second half, and they (Lewis) made a
nice run," said Luke. "But when we needed baskets, Tim and Radayl
stepped up for us."
Strom led the Huskies with team highs of 16 points and eight
rebounds. Richardson added 15 points and four boards. Kris Alpers
tallied nine points.
Michigan Tech committed just eight turnovers on the day, compared
to 15 for Lewis. The hosts also held an edge in shooting (43
percent to 36 percent), but were out-rebounded, 43-25.
The Huskies will travel to play Minnesota State Mankato and
Minnesota Duluth next Friday (Nov. 24) and Saturday (Nov. 25) in
UMD's American Family Insurance Classic.
