Photo Credit: Michigan Tech

HOUGHTON, Mich. — Michigan Tech held Hillsdale to 38 percent shooting in the second half and outrebounded the Chargers 44-32 en route to a 68-60 GLIAC men’s basketball victory at the SDC Gym tonight. The Huskies’ second straight win came in contrasting fashion to last Saturday’s 90-73 shootout win at Tiffin. Neither team was able to shoot well from 3-point range, and the defenses played tough.

“It feels really good to get a win at home,” said head coach Kevin Luke. “We started slowly and things got ugly, but we stayed strong.

“Our defense was solid in the second half, and we got big rebounds in crunch time.”

Each team had a lead of five in the opening 20 minutes. Unfortunately for Tech, Hillsdale’s five-point edge came after a three-point play right before halftime.

Tech battled back early in the second half with 3-pointers from Matt Gaedke and Don Fowler to tie the game at 34.

Two minutes later, Gaedke’s layup tied the score at 39, where it stayed for three minutes. The teams traded baskets before Tyler Molesworth buried a triple for a 44-41 advantage the Huskies would never relinquish.  Fowler added a pair of free throws for a five-point lead to cap a 12-2 run.

Hillsdale battled back to within 48-47 with 6:18 to play before the Huskies’ defense stepped up. The Chargers managed just two points over the next five minutes while Tech built up a nine-point margin.The Black and Gold made 6-of-8 free throws in the final minute to preserve the win.

Gaedke led the Huskies in scoring for the second straight game with 18 points. Ali Haidar posted his second career double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Matt Esters came off the bench and also reached double figures in points with 11—all in the second half.

Michigan Tech shot 42 percent from the floor, 31 percent from 3-point range and 63 percent from the foul line. HC’s game percentages were 40, 29 and 64, respectively. The stat of the game was rebounds, where the hosts were plus-12.

Tech is now 4-10 overall and 3-6 in league play while Hillsdale fell to 2-11 overall and 2-7 in the GLIAC.

Michigan Tech, which snapped a nine-game home losing streak, will return home for another GLIAC contest Saturday (Jan. 16). The Huskies host defending national champion Findlay at 2 p.m.