SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Michigan Tech men's basketball team clawed back from nine points down to within one in the final minute before falling 67-64 at Lake Superior State today. The Huskies outshot and outrebounded the Lakers, but missed eight free throws including all three front ends of one-and-one opportunities.

"Free throws were bad tonight," said head coach Kevin Luke. "I feel like we're getting closer, but we need to finish the plays in crunch time."

Tech trailed by nine within minutes of the opening tipoff before getting its post players involved and climbing back into a halftime tie at 30.

The visitors scored the first five points of the second half and maintained a 45-40 lead with 13:30 to play. Lake Superior State scored the next seven points and the lead changed hands twice more in the game. The Lakers used a 16-5 run over an eight minute span that left the score 64-55 at the 3:52 mark. During that time, the Huskies missed two field goals and three free throws (the one-and-ones) and committed two turnovers.

Despite the lull, Tech came back. Ali Haidar scored four straight points before Don Fowler converted a 3-point play with 1:12 to go to make the score 64-62. LSSU went 1-of-2 at the free throw line with 51 seconds left. Tech missed its next two shots, but Fowler was fouled on a third attempt and made both free throws to get the margin down to 65-64.

Forced to foul, the Huskies sent LSSU's Kyle Hunt to the line where he made both for a 67-64 advantage. With 21 seconds to work with, Tech never got a clean look at a 3-pointer to tie the game. Fowler threw up an attempt from 30 feet that was short, and the rebound was batted around until the final horn sounded.

Tech shot 42 percent from the field but made just 4-of-18 3-pointers in the contest. The Black and Gold also held a 45-35 rebounding advantage. LSSU shot 37 percent for the game but committed just three turnovers (compared to 11 for the Huskies).

Four players scored in double figures for the Tech. Matt Gaedke notched 13 points, five rebounds and four assists before fouling out with 3:52 to play. Mike Hojnacki recorded his second straight double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Fowler (12 points) and Haidar (10) were the other two.

Michigan Tech will play its third straight road game Thursday (Jan. 28) with an 8 p.m. game at Grand Valley State.