ERIE, Pa. — Gannon knocked down 8-of-14 3-pointers and defended its home court with a 75-65 victory over Michigan Tech in men’s Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference basketball action today at the Hammermill Center. Senior Tim Strom scored 16 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds but it wasn’t enough as the Huskies fell to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the league.
The Knights worked themselves into a 24-14 lead at the 7:39 mark of the first half as Vince Mosley knocked down a 3-pointer. Tech trimmed the deficit to 31-28 by halftime as Don Fowler scored four straight points including a jumper right before the horn.
GU held a nine-point advantage six minutes into the second half before back-to-back triples by Kevin Maloney spurred a 10-0 Huskies run. The lead then switched hands eight times over the next four minutes. Robert Buckner’s 3-pointer against Tech’s two-three zone defense gave the hosts the lead for good with 6:16 to play.
Consecutive jumpers by Strom kept the Black and Gold within four points with four minutes left, but the Knights hit timely shots to stay ahead. Maloney’s fifth 3-pointer of the game at the 2:28 mark made it a five-point game, but Gannon drained 7-of-10 free throws to ice the win.
Maloney (15 points), Fowler (13 points) and Kris Alpers (12 points) all joined Strom in double figures in scoring. Fowler added five rebounds and a team-high five assists to earn Superior Player of the Game honors.
“Give Gannon credit,” said head coach Kevin Luke. “They’re a much-improved team and are tough to beat on that floor. We needed to be a little tougher to come away with the win today.”
Gannon shot 49 percent from the floor including a 57 percent mark from long range. The hosts also held a 35-31 rebounding advantage. Tech made good on 43 percent from the field.
Michigan Tech will take six days off before returning to the road for a trip to arch-rival Northern Michigan next Saturday (Dec. 8).
Photo Credit: Michigan Tech
