HOUGHTON, Mich. - Michigan Tech overcame a 15-point halftime deficit to defeat Lake Erie 71-68 this afternoon in GLIAC men's basketball on Senior Day. Senior Don Fowler scored 10 points in his final game at the SDC Gym including two free throws with 20 seconds left to help the Huskies improve to 14-10 overall and 9-8 in league play.

Fowler not only did the job on offense (four assists and zero turnovers), he played strong defense on the Storm's best player Ethan Bradshaw in the second half.

"Don was solid as a rock today," said head coach Kevin Luke. "He controlled the tempo and worked hard to slow down a pretty good player in (Bradshaw)."

Similar to its previous game, Tech didn't take the lead until late in the second half. Austin Armga's free throw at the 1:11 mark put the Black and Gold up 69-68. Lake Erie missed its next three shots, but pulled down offensive rebounds each time. Tech was whistled for a loose ball foul on the third rebound, but the Storm's Brandon Smith missed the front end of a 1-and-1 to keep the score at 69-68.

Fowler then went to the line and buried both shots to push the lead to 71-68. Lake Erie had two more looks at 3-pointers to tie the game, but neither fell.

LE went 7-of-22 from 3-point range for the game including 1-of-9 in the second half.

The Storm opened the game red-hot from the field, burying their six of their first 10 3-pointers and 57 percent of its field goals in the opening 20 minutes. Tech was out-rebounded 16-10 in the half and trailed 45-30 at the break.

"Credit Lake Erie on that first half," said Luke. "I thought they made some big shots.

"I challenged our post players at half to step up-especially rebounding. They did, and our perimeter players made some big shots, too."

Tech grabbed 14 of the first 17 available rebounds in the second half. Meanwhile, Alex Culy sparked the Huskies comeback on the offensive end. He scored five straight points, and Ali Haidar added a three-point play to trim the deficit to seven little more than three minutes into the half.

Jordan Reetz tied the game with a 3-pointer at the 9:07 mark, but the Storm were able to regain a 64-57 advantage just four minutes later.

Reetz continued his offensive output minutes later with five straight points. Lake Erie didn't relinquish the lead until Haidar buried two free throws to knot the game at 68.

Armga and Fowler added their foul shots for the final margin.

Haidar finished with a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds. The 6-7 forward had 10 points and nine rebounds after halftime.

Reetz notched 15 points. Culy and Fowler each scored 10.

Tyler Molesworth, the team's other senior along side Fowler, registered one point and three rebounds in 10 minutes of playing time. The two seniors were honored following the game.

Bradshaw led all scorers in the game with 18 points but only had seven in the second half.

The final rebounding totals were 29 for Lake Erie and 28 for Tech. The Huskies turned the ball over three more times, but cashed in on 23-of-26 free throw attempts to come away victorious.

With a 14-10 record and only two games left in the regular season, Michigan Tech has secured the program's first winning season since 2004-05. The Huskies have now won four of their last six games dating back to an overtime victory over Hillsdale.

Michigan Tech will wrap up its 2010-11 regular season at Saginaw Valley State and Northwood next Thursday (Feb. 24) and Saturday (Feb. 26), respectively.