MELBOURNE, Fla. -- The Michigan Tech men's basketball team earned its eighth-straight victory with a 64-52 decision over Florida Tech to begin the Florida Tech Christmas Classic at the Charles and Ruth Clemente Center on Friday afternoon.
Veteran guard Marcus Tomashek led a trio of Huskies in double-figure scoring with a game-high 22 points, including a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line and a season-high seven dimes. Ty Fernholz had 13 points off the bench, shooting 4-8 from the field and 3-7 from trey. Dawson Nordgaard was an efficient 5-6 from the field for 10 points to go with four boards.
Michigan Tech elevates to 10-1 overall and 2-0 in league play as Florida Tech drops to 5-6 and 2-2 in the loop.
"Winning on the road is hard, I'm happy with the win and how locked in we were coming out of halftime," said Tech head coach Josh Buettner. "We have a big time challenge tomorrow."
The two technological universities were nearly identical statistically through 20 minutes played as both teams hit nine shots, 19 rebounds and four turnovers. The Huskies held the Panthers to 30 percent shooting and 3-15 from deep, bettering the home team with five 3-pointers, to go with 4-6 from the charity stripe compared to 3-4 for Florida Tech.
Michigan Tech held a 7-3 rebounding advantage through the first four and a half minutes but trailed 4-2. 3-pointers by Fernholz, Gabe Smith and Matt Schmainda began to give the Huskies the first sizable advantage of the day to make it 13-8 with 11:24 to play.
The Black & Gold got up by six points twice, coming from a jumper by Tomashek (18-12) and then with 7:23 to go off a layup by Smith (20-14).
After holding the Panthers scoreless for more than two minutes, the home team outscored the Huskies 7-5 down the stretch concluding the scoring in the first half by trading 3-pointers, first by Grant Lovette then Schmainda to head into halftime leading 27-24.
Fernholz led all scorers with eight points, hitting 2-3 from 3-point territory and adding two free throws as Smith added seven points on 3-4 shooting.
The second half showcased sizable scoring runs and droughts for both teams as the Huskies opened with a 16-7 run to start the second half that extended to the first media timeout at the 14:45 mark, seeing the Black & Gold ahead by double-digits with six points from Nordgaard and two consecutive 3-pointers by Tomashek. Tomashek converted an and-one out of the media break to make it 44-31.
The Huskies' largest lead of the game came with 6:19 to play off a layup by Nordgaard (60-36) before the Panthers would orchestrate a scoring run while holding the Black & Gold scoreless.
Florida Tech put together an 18-2 scoring run in the final seven minutes of the game to cut the Huskies' lead down to eight points (60-52) with 47 to play, leading to a Michigan Tech timeout.
However, the Panthers' comeback attempt would get no closer, as the Huskies drew fouls down the stretch translating into two points by Tomashek before a fastbreak dunk by Smith sealed the deal 64-52.
Josh Terrian led the team with eight rebounds to go with five assists, as Nate Abel had seven rebounds and Schmainda added six, three on offense.
Ca'Darrius Sowell and Xavier Ford-Belton recorded a team-leading nine points as Sterling White III had a team-high five boards.
Up Next
The Huskies will conclude the 2025 schedule and the Florida Tech Winter Classic on Saturday, facing Lynn at 7:00 p.m.
