Cardinals bow to Michigan Tech, 71-67
The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team fell at home to the Michigan Tech University Huskies by a score of 71-67 in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) match-up.
UNIVERSITY CENTER -- SVSU jumped out to a 4-0 lead at the 17:40 mark after buckets from senior Keithan Jackson (Grand Rapids, Mich./Godwin Heights HS) and junior Greg Foster (Indianapolis, Ind./TC Howe HS). After a Tech basket, the Cardinals rattled-off 10 consecutive points to grab a 14-2 lead with 11:04 remaining in the half, with the run being capped-off by a triple by junior Sean Romsek (Fowlerville, Mich.). The Huskies would cut into the Cardinal lead a bit, but a three-pointer by senior Dan Genther (Laingsburg, Mich.) at the 3:37 mark extended SVSU's lead back to 10, with the score 25-15. Michigan Tech cut the lead to five with 1:13 left in the half, but a pair of freebies from sophomore Michael Fugate (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland HS) gave SVSU a 29-22 lead heading into the half.
Jackson led offensively in the first half, scoring eight points. Genther had five points in the opening frame while Fugate and Foster each had four, with Fugate adding a game-high six rebounds in the half.
Tech cut the Cardinal lead to just two points at 30-28 at the 16:56 mark in the second, but a three by sophomore Chris Webb (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill HS) and a Jackson free throw extended the advantage back to six points with 16:02 remaining, making the score 34-28. The Huskies climbed back to take a 44-43 lead at the 9:50 mark after a three-pointer from Jordan Reetz. SVSU would regain the lead and would hold a one-point advantage at the 4:59 mark when the score was 52-51. Tech would use a Don Fowler layup to take the lead at 53-52. A Webb layup tied the score at 58-58 with 2:48 remaining. The Huskies would take the lead from there, and despite a Foster three-pointer that drew the Cardinals to within a pair with four seconds left, would close-out with the four point victory, 71-67.
Jackson earned Meijer "Player of the Game" plaudits after finishing the game with a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds. Webb had 15 points for SVSU while Foster added 12 points and five rebounds. Fugate posted a game-high 11 rebounds for the Cardinals.
The loss drops the Cardinals to 12-13 overall and 8-10 in GLIAC play while the Huskies improve to 15-10 overall and 10-8 in league play. The Cardinals will be back in action on Saturday (2/26), as they host Northern Michigan University in their regular season finale. During halftime of the contest, the SVSU Athletics Department will be honoring Breast Cancer Survivors throughout the Great Lakes Bay Region. Tip-off for the contest is set for 6:00 pm.
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The Northwood University men's basketball team dropped a tough 73-71 game against Northern Michigan Thursday night (February 24).
Northwood is now 10-17 overall, 7-11 in the GLIAC. Northern Michigan stands at 9-16 overall, 4-14 in the GLIAC.
With the loss, the Timberwolves were eliminated from contention for the GLIAC Tournament. NU trails eighth-place SVSU by one game, but would lose a tiebreaker against the Cardinals if the two teams were to finished tied for the final spot in the field.
The first half was back and forth throughout, with no one leading by more than five points. NMU would take the lead at the break 30-27. The Timberwolves shot 28.6 percent from the floor (8-28) and 20.0 percent from 3-point range (2-10) while Northern Michigan was 32.0 percent from the floor in the half (8-25).
NMU was the better team early in the second half, going up by as many as eight. Northwood rallied back to take a 56-53 lead with less than nine minutes remaining. With the score tied at 71-71, a DeAndre Taylor jumper for NMU with one second remaining gave the Wildcats the victory.
For the game, NU shot 41.3 percent, going 26-63 from the floor. Northern Michigan finished at 44.2 percent from the floor (23-52) and 41.7 percent from 3-point range (5-12).
Leading the way for the Timberwolves was Cameron Joyce (Akron, Ohio/St. Vincent St. Mary's) with 17. Bobby Gibson (Harper Woods, Mich. /Harper Woods) finished with a career-high 16.
Northwood will host Michigan Tech Saturday evening (February 26). Game time is set for 1 p.m.
