HOUGHTON, Mich. -- Junior Josh Makela had a career day in helping the Michigan Tech men's basketball team to a 62-55 triumph over a tough non-conference foe in Minnesota Duluth tonight at the SDC Gym. The 6-0 guard notched 19 points including a critical three-point play that broke a 53-all tie with 1:15 to go. That spurred the Huskies to a 9-2 run to end the game.

"Makela took the ball to the hole with authority today. He made all of his free throws and iced the game with his defense," said head coach Kevin Luke. "We got good performances from Dell (Radayl Richardson) and Strommie (Tim Strom), too, and beat a good basketball team."

Tech held a six-point lead with six minutes to play before the Bulldogs made a 10-4 run to knot the game up at 53 with 1:45 to go. Makela then drove to the hoop from the right wing, made the layup, and drew the foul. He drained the free throw for a 56-53 advantage. The Huskies rebounded a UMD miss on the ensuing possession, then got a pair of offensive rebounds to keep the ball on their offensive end until 24 were seconds left. Richardson knocked down four consecutive free throws, and Makela had a steal, a defensive rebound and two free throws in the final 16 seconds to ice the game.

Richardson tied Makela for game-high honors with 19 points. He also had eight rebounds. Makela accomplished his career high with five-of-seven field goal shooting and a perfect nine-of-nine effort at the charity stripe. He also had six rebounds.

A 39-24 rebounding advantage and eight more makes at the foul line were keys for the Huskies, who are now 7-4 overall and 6-1 at home this season.

"Our offensive execution was good tonight," said Luke. "On the defensive side, we did well to hold this team to 55."

Minnesota Duluth (8-5) entered the game averaging 78.0 points per game.

Michigan Tech held a 29-26 lead at halftime after being ahead all but five minutes of the first half. Strom and Ed Ross each had six points in the first 10 minutes of the game to keep the Huskies on top. Richardson's three-pointer at the 3:43 mark of the frame gave Tech its largest margin (29-22) of the game until the final seconds.

Strom finished the night with 14 points -- 10 in the first half. He also had six rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Ross had five rebounds to go with his six points in 16 minutes of game action.

Michigan Tech will have five days off before traveling to play three NCAA Division I opponents next week (Dec. 27-30) at Wisconsin-Green Bay's Classic. All three games will be played at the Resch Center. The Huskies' first opponent is Bowling Green on Wednesday (Dec. 27) at 6:30 p.m.

Notes: Makela's previous career high was 18 points at Ferris State (Feb. 3, 2005) ... Richardson is averaging 19.8 points per game over his last four contests ... Tech snapped an overall three-game losing skid to Minnesota Duluth, but won their sixth consecutive home game against the Bulldogs ... MTU has held its last two opponents to 48 points (St. Joseph's on Dec. 19) and 55 points (tonight).