HOUGHTON, Mich. – For the second consecutive year, the No. 15 nationally-ranked Michigan Tech men's basketball squad is competing in the GLIAC Tournament Semifinals, taking on No. 25 nationally-ranked Grand Valley State inside Vandament Arena on Saturday, slated for a 4:30 p.m. tipoff.

Fans can follow the action at Michigantechhuskies.com/live. Tickets for this weekend's games can be purchased through the Michigan Tech Central Ticket Office online or in person from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday.

Saturday tickets are valid only for Michigan Tech vs. Grand Valley State at 4:30 p.m. Sunday tickets and All-Tournament passes (valid for all games) will also be available during the same hours on Friday. 

All tickets purchased through the Michigan Tech Central Ticket Office will be sent as mobile tickets from the Northern Michigan Ticket Office on the day of the games.

The Game
The No. 2-seeded Huskies will meet the No. 3-seeded Lakers after going 0-2 against Grand Valley State in the regular season. Michigan Tech lost to the Lakers 79-75 to start the New Year on Jan. 2, before dropping a low-scoring affair in Allendale (55-46) on Jan. 31.

Watch the Huskies
All home and GLIAC games will be streamed on FloCollege. Michigan Tech fans can watch all home and conference games in volleyball, basketball, football and soccer with one subscription. FloCollege provides each subscriber with access to all content and events with the purchase of a monthly or yearly subscription. Subscriptions are offered in two different billing packages - monthly and annual. Discounts are available for students enrolled at GLIAC member and associate member institutions. You must subscribe with a .edu email address to be eligible. FloCollege is available on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Chromecast.

About the Lakers
Grand Valley State has won three-straight games for an overall record of 23-6 while finishing the GLIAC schedule with a 15-5 ledger. The Lakers earned a trip to the GLIAC Tournament Semifinal after besting Wayne State (81-67) on Wednesday night.

David Wilkerson shined in the GLIAC Quarterfinal game, producing a career-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including three 3-pointers and five rebounds. The Lakers enjoyed 42 points from the bench as Trevor Smith Jr. added 12 points while Mason Docks (20) and Ethan Alderink (10) also reached double-figure scoring.

For the season, the Lakers are outpacing their opponents by 10.3 points, averaging 77.6 points per outing with four players reaching double-figure scoring, led by Alderink's 13.5 ppg. Smith Jr. (3.2) and Docks (3.1) are averaging over three assists per game while producing 12.6 and 10.1 points per game, respectively.

Jalen Charity adds 12.6 points and five rebounds per game, while Shamus Thompson leads the Lakers with 6.4 boards to go with 4.9 ppg.

The Lakers rank first in the GLIAC in bench points per game (28.59) and free throw attempts per game (24.6) while having the second-best free throws made per game (17.7), offensive rebounds per game (13.17), steals per game (9.2), turnovers forced per game (15.24) and turnovers per game (10.4).

About the Huskies
Michigan Tech, the top team in the most recent Midwest regional rankings, secured a GLIAC Semifinal matchup against Grand Valley State following a 72-70 decision over Davenport at the SDC Gymnasium on Wednesday night.

The Huskies navigated a 3-of-25 shooting night from beyond the arc, as a trio of players produced double-figure scoring, led by 17 points and seven rebounds from Dawson Nordgaard. The Black & Gold shot 20-of-23 from the charity stripe in the second half as Jesse Napgezek connected on 9-of-12 attempts, finishing with 13 points as Marcus Tomashek added 12 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Michigan Tech boasts the 12th-best field goal percentage defense nationally, also ranking first in the league (39.9), the 18th-best scoring defense in the country, holding opponents to 65.6 points per game and the 28th-best three-point percentage defense (30.4), both of which rank second in the GLIAC.

Tomashek leads the team with 21.1 points to go with 4.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Nordgaard (9.5), Ty Fernholz (9.6) and Gabe Smith (8.2) average over eight points per game for the Black & Gold. Tomashek (3.13) and Fernholz (2.68) combine to average over half of the team's 9.9 3-pointers per game.

Nate Abel (7.0) and Smith (6.5) average over six rebounds per game to lead the team, as the duo has recorded over 40 steals this season. Smith has a team-leading 57 steals on the year, averaging 1.84 pickpockets per outing

One Last Thing
The Huskies last made the GLIAC Tournament Championship game in the 2022-23 season as the No. 8 seed, falling to No. 3 seed Northern Michigan (79-66) in Big Rapids.