Photo Credit: Michigan Tech

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. — Saginaw Valley State held off a determined Michigan Tech squad for a 74-69 men’s basketball victory tonight at the Ryder Center. The Huskies battled back from down nine to within 63-61 but couldn’t come any closer in falling to 4-12 overall and 3-8 in GLIAC play.

The two halves were nearly identical in the fact that SVSU (11-5, 8-3 GLIAC) built up a three possession lead before Tech came back. In the first half, the Cardinals led 29-21 with six minutes to play. Mike Hojnacki and Tyler Molesworth each hit 3-pointers during a 12-4 Huskies run that left the score tied at 33 at the intermission.

Hojnacki scored the first two points of the second half to put the Huskies on top, but it was short-lived. SVSU scored the next eight points and never trailed again. Tech remained within striking distance down the stretch. Matt Gaedke created nine points in a two-minute span with three driving layups and drive-assist to Nate Kindt.

SVSU’s Adam Roberts scored on a put-back with 5:01 showing to give the hosts a 63-56 margin. Don Fowler answered with a 3-pointer, then Gaedke brought the Black and Gold within a bucket at the 3:22 mark. The Cardinals scored right away to go back up by four. Ali Haider then missed a short hook shot and Gaedke committed a turnover, but of which could’ve kept the Huskies in the game.

Tech resorted to fouling and pulled in as close as 69-66 on a Fowler 3-pointer with 55 seconds to play. SVSU made 5-of-6 foul shots in the final minute to seal the win.

“It was a youth loss,” said head coach Kevin Luke. “I thought we played hard enough and executed our systems, but we missed some layups and had critical turnovers in crunch time.

“We played a good team to a really close game at their place, but our freshmen didn’t get it done today.”

Gaedke tallied a game-high 24 and got his points in bunches. He poured in 13 of the team’s first 15 points in the first seven minutes of the game and had seven during a similar stretch in the second stanza. The 6-3 guard has averaged 20 points per game over the last four contests.

Fowler notched season highs of 18 points and six rebounds. Mike Hojnacki added his second double-double of the season with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Tech shot 39.7 percent from the field compared to 42 percent for Saginaw. The Cardinals held a 38-36 edge in rebounds, and both teams committed nine turnovers.

The big difference in the game came at the foul line, where SVSU was 24-of-34 and Tech was 13-of-20.

Michigan Tech will continue its four-game road swing with a trip to Lake Superior State on Saturday (Jan. 23). Tipoff in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., is set for 3 p.m.