PAINESVILLE, Ohio – The Huskies buried 15 3-pointers en route to an 81-64 win over Lake Erie on Thursday (Jan. 9) evening. Michigan Tech extended its winning streak to five games after shooting 52 percent from the field and 58 percent from beyond the arc.

"We beat a good team here tonight," Tech men's basketball coach Kevin Luke said. "Lake Erie has a lot of good players but our defense and three-point shooting really came through for us."

Austin Armga loaded up the stat sheet with his first career double-double. He scored 30 points on 10-for-18 shooting while pulling down 10 rebounds and adding six assists, two steals and a block.

The two teams traded runs in the second half. Alex Culy opened the half with a three but LEC answered with seven straight points. The Huskies then went on a 14-2 run to take a 19-point lead with 14:27 remaining. Culy, Armga, Jordan Chartier and Ben Stelzer all nailed treys in the run while Luke Heller added a layup.

Lake Erie (5-8, 2-5 GLIAC) cut into the lead going on a 12-2 run to make it 61-53 with 8:05 left. The final run was 16-3 in favor of the Huskies. The Storm made a late jumper and three for the final 17-point margin.

Tech finished 26-for-50 from the floor and 15-for-26 from three. The Huskies out-rebounded the Storm 31-30 and had 16 assists compared to only three for the home team.

Culy scored a season-high 14 points, making 5-for-7 from the field and four 3-pointers. Stelzer added 12 points all on second-half 3-pointers. Jason Hawke also entered double figures for the third time in four games with 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting.

Tech went on a 7-0 run in the first half after the score was knotted at 14. Armga had a pair of buckets in the run and Culy buried a 3-pointer. The Huskies held an 11-point (39-28) lead at the break after Armga scored 20 points in 20 minutes of play.

The Storm was 0-for-6 in the first half from behind the arc and didn't hit the first three until 10:25 left in the game. The home team finished 4-for-16 from three. Overall LEC shot 45 percent from the field and 4-for-8 from the free throw line.

The Huskies held Riley Thomas in check as Stelzer and Chartier combined to hold him to only 12 points, 10 below his season average. He was the only LEC player in double figures.

"We're playing well right now and boy is it a good feeling," said Luke. "Now we need to go to Ashland with the same attitude and work ethic that we had tonight. They're going to play us tough on their floor."

Saturday's (Jan. 11) tipoff at Ashland is set for 1:30 p.m. The Eagles defeated Northern Michigan 72-56 on Thursday.