February 2, 2013
Men's Hoops Falls in Marquette
MARQUETTE, Mich. - Senior Ali Haidar scored 19 points and senior Matt Esters added 13 for the Michigan Tech men's basketball team in a 59-55 loss in Marquette Saturday (Feb. 2). NMU finished with an advantage in nearly every statistical category.
The Wildcats opened the contest with back-to-back three-pointers and posted their largest lead of nine points with 16:28 remaining.
Tech sophomore Ben Stelzer made a 3-pointer at the 8:53 mark to give the Huskies its first lead of the game 17-16.
Sophomore Phil Romback hit a 3-pointer of his own five minutes later to extend Tech's lead to four, 26-22, its largest of the half.
Tech shot 55-percent (12-22) compared to 46-percent (11-24) by Northern Michigan to led by one, 28-27, at halftime.
Haidar made a pair of free throws with just over two minutes remaining for the Huskies last lead of the game, 53-52.
The Wildcats out-scored the Huskies 7-1 over the final two minutes with all eight points coming from the free throw line.
Haidar finished with 19 points shooting 7-of-9 from the field and 5-of-7 from the line. He grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists.
Esters made all five of his free throws to finish with 13 points, one shy of his season-high.
Matt Craggs led three Wildcats in double-figures with a game-high 20 points.
Tech (13-6, 10-5) will host Ferris State Thursday (Feb. 7).
