Michigan Tech guard Marcus Tomashek attempts a layup during a game against Wayne State Saturday at the SDC Gym in Houghton. Also pictured is Michigan Tech forward Dawson Nordgaard (33). (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — At halftime, the Michigan Tech Huskies men’s basketball team trailed the Wayne State Warriors, 27-26, Saturday. It took just over nine and a half minutes of the second half to even things, but from there, the Huskies took off, earning a 74-68 win.

With the victory, the Huskies have won four in a row and 10 of their last 11 to improve to 12-4 overall and 7-1 in GLIAC play.

“I’m just proud of how hard our guys are playing,” said Huskies coach Josh Buettner. “That was, over the weekend, I think, 80 minutes where we were pretty locked in, competing at the right level defensively, and even when the offense wasn’t going well, (we have) some guys a little sick, a little banged up, that we were at our best, executing all the time. Our defense hung in there, and competed at the level it needed to to give us a chance to win. Those were two really good teams that came in here. I love that people are excited about us, but sometimes they’re looking at the record and like, ‘Oh, you got these two this weekend.’ I’m like, ‘they’re pretty good.’ Records don’t tell everything what’s going on. That’s a really good team we played today, and they’re going to be a tough out.”

Whenever the Huskies and Warriors meet, the game is physical, and Saturday was no exception. The Huskies were whistled for 19 fouls, while the Warriors were called for 22, including six over the game’s final 3:47, all of which sent the Huskies to the line with a chance to extend their lead.

“It’s a mentality, and it’s hard, because I told them at halftime, we have a drill that started with the old school Wayne State teams where we just called ‘boss for the ball,’ and we pretty much just foul, take turns fouling each other. I didn’t want to beat our guys up, so I told them to think about the drill and kind of do it mentally.

“I went in at halftime, I’m like, ‘Do we need to go out there and do it right now?’ It wasn’t just getting the ball knocked out of your hands, it was just getting pushed off your spots. We weren’t getting in where we wanted to to execute our offense. In the second half, I thought the guys just dug in. It’s a little bit of a mentality thing.”

Buettner continued to point out that the physical game was not just around the basket, but rather all over the floor.

“It was a very physical game on the perimeter,” he said. “It was very physical inside. I thought our guys stepped up and matched it. You could see some of it in the numbers. The second half, we really rebounded the ball well, and we took care of it a lot more. We had cut our turnovers in more than half in the second half compared to the first.”

A big recipient of fouls, especially in the second half, was junior guard Marcus Tomashek, who had the last 10 free throws in the game for the Huskies. He led all scorers with 32 points.

The Huskies’ comeback in the second half was capped by a timely hook shot from junior forward Dawson Nordgaard with 10:26 left. Then, 5:26 later, he backed his defender in before making a key layup. Nordgaard’s presence drew multiple defenders, which allowed Tomashek and the rest of the Huskies to find time and space.

“Dawson’s such an important part of what we’re trying to do, and it doesn’t always show up in the box score, but having that inside presence that they’re always worried about opens up everything we have on the perimeter,” Buettner said. “When he can score, it’s even better. You can’t even put into words how important he is, because he’s always been there defensively. All season there’s been games when he’s barely only had a bucket or two, but he’s drawing attention in there and drawing some help. It’s not always a double team, but it’s help. Then, when he kicks it out, we’re getting to an advantage, and it gives us a chance to play inside-out basketball. He was huge tonight.”

While the Huskies were in the process of battling back in the second half, senior guard Adam Hobson drained a 3-pointer with 12:26 remaining. While he finished with seven points in the game, that basket helped him reach 1,000 career points.

“‘Hobbs,’ (had) five boards (rebounds), seven points. Happy for him,” said Buettner. “He’s had a great career, and it’s awesome that he gets to do it in the Wood Gym to get that milestone of 1,000. Really, really happy for him.”

UP NEXT

The Huskies take their winning streak on the road Thursday as they travel to face Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie.