HOUGHTON, Mich. — For the second straight game, the Michigan Tech men's basketball team battled back from a double-digit deficit to make it close. In the end, it was the Ferris State Bulldogs who came away with an 86-80 triumph in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at the SDC Gym tonight.

Tech trailed 77-62 with 2:35 to play before a 14-3 run drew the hosts within four points under a minute. Matt Gaedke sparked the run with a three-point play and Georgio Holt added two long-range 3-pointers. The second of Holt's triples came off a steal with 45 seconds to go.

After FSU's Justin Keenan made 1-of-2 free throws, Robby Springborn had the ball with 30 seconds remaining and a chance to further trim the margin. He lost control of the ball, and it ended up being awarded to Ferris on a jump ball.

Tech cut the margin back to four twice more but ran out of time on the comeback.

"We needed to start out with the intensity we showed in the final minutes," said head coach Kevin Luke. "Don (Fowler) played a great game, but we needed a better performance from the whole team, and we didn't get it."

Fowler finished with a season-high 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Holt added 15 points with 14 of those coming in the second half. Fedrick Bowe and Mike Hojnacki, who got his first collegiate start in the game, both reached double figures in points with 12 and 11, respectively.

Ferris was led by Keenan's 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting. He was a big factor in the Bulldogs connecting on 54 percent from the field. The visitors were also a very good 59 percent from 3-point range.

Tech held a 43-28 rebounding advantage, but shot 41 percent from the floor and were 5-of-21 (24 percent) from behind the arc.

Michigan Tech (9-10 overall, 6-8 GLIAC) will play its next four games on the road. The Huskies travel to Tiffin Thursday (Feb. 5) for an 8 p.m. tipoff.