HOUGHTON, Mich. - The Michigan Tech men's basketball team came up on the short end of the scoreboard against Northern Michigan tonight, 69-67. Tech's biggest rival used a 50 percent shooting night from beyond the three-point arc to gain the win which was the second consecutive Tech-Northern contest to be decided by two points. The Huskies dropped to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with the loss, while the Wildcats improved to 6-1 overall and 2-1 in the GLIAC.

"It's really disappointing because I know that the kids played hard enough to win tonight," said 15th-year head coach Kevin Luke. "Credit the NMU shooters because they made some difficult shots all night long."

The Huskies controlled the opening tip, and got on the board first thanks to a pair of Fedrick Bowe free throws. Throughout the rest of the first half, neither team held a lead that was more than six. There were eight lead changes, and four ties in the physical first 20 minutes. Bowe went to the free throw stripe eight times in the first half and capitalized on seven of his attempts to help the hosts gain a 39-33 lead at the conclusion of the first stanza.

"We tried to get it into Bowe all night, and he made some nice shots, but when it comes down to crunch time, you have to make the tough shots," said Luke.

The Huskies carried their strong offensive performance into the opening minutes of the second half. Utilizing a 9-0 run during the first four minutes, they were able to gain a 15-point lead over the Wildcats. Chris Baugh scored six of the nine points during the run, and Robby Springborn added his second three-point basket of the night to push the lead to 48-33.

The Wildcats came roaring back with a run of their own at the 10:31 mark to knot the score up at 58 all. The Wildcats extended their lead to 66-60 with 3:39 left to play before a Georgio Holt triple cut the margin in half. The Black and Gold secured a rebound off of a botched Chris Warner layup attempt, and sent Brandon Ball to the free throw stripe to cut the lead to two with 1:58 left.

Northern Michigan's Mark Renelique drilled a big triple at the 1:18 mark to give the visitors a five point advantage. On the ensuing possession, Bowe was fouled and sent to the free throw line where he swished his first attempt. Holt snared the rebound on the second try, and Bowe layed the ball in off a nice assist from Brandon Ball to cut the lead to two with 44 seconds showing on the clock.

Tech forced a turnover with eight seconds left and Ball sliced into the paint again trying to find Bowe. NMU intercepted the pass this time, and the Huskies were forced to foul. Both free throws were missed, but with only 1.3 seconds to work with, Springborn's desperation heave came up short.

Bowe led the Black and Gold with 18 points to go with nine rebounds. Holt tallied 17 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double.

Northern was paced by Renelique's game-high 24 points.

Tech held a 42-31 rebounding advantage, but shot 38 percent from the field and 61 percent from the foul line (17-of-28). NMU finished the game at 47 percent from the floor.

Michigan Tech returns to GLIAC action on Thursday (Dec. 18) when they welcome the Northwood Timberwolves to the SDC Gym. Game time is slated for 7:30 that evening.