Photo Credit: Michigan Tech

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The Michigan Tech men’s basketball team turned a seven-point halftime deficit into a 62-56 win over Minnesota State Moorhead tonight in the opening game of the St. Cloud State Invitational. The Huskies shot just 3-of-15 from behind the arc but turned 16 MSUM turnovers into 20 points to even their season record at 1-1.

For the second straight game, the Huskies put themselves down at halftime. Tonight, it was a 16-9 rebounding edge by the Dragons that led to a 33-26 deficit at the intermission.

Back-to-back buckets by Mike Hojnacki including a two-handed slam dunk on a fast break early in the second half helped the Black and Gold get back within 35-32. MSUM answered with an 8-2 run capped by a Jake Driscoll 3-pointer. That left the Huskies behind by nine with 13 minutes to play.

Don Fowler connected on a two and a three to trim the margin to four less than a minute later. Freshman Ali Haidar put the Huskies in position to make their run by accounting for four rebounds and six straight Tech points over the next five minutes. Matt Esters’ drive and layup with 7:30 to play cut it to a 49-47 margin. His missed 3-pointer on the next trip down the floor could have given Tech its first lead since the opening minute of the game at 2-0.

Instead it was Tyler Molesworth’s 3-pointer with 4:35 to play that finally tied the game at 50 apiece. It also jumpstarted an 11-0 run that included two steals for layups by T.J. Brown.

The Dragons’ Dennis Williamson scored on a layup to end Tech’s run, but it was the only field goal for MSUM between the 8:37 mark and the game’s waning seconds. Michigan Tech did a nice job to take care of the basketball in the closing minutes to come away with their first win of 2009-10.

“The first half was not good,” said head coach Kevin Luke. “We had low energy and didn’t rebound very well. The guys turned it around in the second half and played good Tech basketball.

“Haidar had a nice game for us. They could stop him one-on-one in the paint. I also love the balance with four guys in double figures.”

Haidar, Hojnacki and Molesworth all accounted for 13 points. Fowler also reached double digits with 11. Haidar and Hojnacki posted six rebounds apiece.

Tech shot 51 percent from the floor even with a poor performance from 3-point range. The 3-of-15 effort from deep meant that the Huskies went 24-of-38 (63 percent) from inside the arc.

Minnesota State Moorhead posted a 30-25 rebounding edge and shot 45 percent from the field. Tech had 10 steals in forcing 16 turnovers while committing just 11.

Michigan Tech will play its second game in the St. Cloud State Invitational tomorrow against the host school. Tipoff vs. the No. 10-ranked SCSU Huskies is set for 9 p.m. (ET).