David Archambeau/For the Gazette Michigan Tech guard Adam Hobson runs past a Wayne State defender during a game Saturday at the SDC Gym.

By DAVER KARNOSKY

dkarnosky@mininggazette.com

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — Thanks to wins over the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals on Thursday and the Wayne State Warriors on Saturday, the Michigan Tech Huskies are on a new winning streak of four straight. They have now won 10 of their last 11 games to improve to 12-4 overall and 7-1 in GLIAC play.

While they did not necessarily play their best basketball last week, coach Josh Buettner was happy with a lot of what he saw from his group. However, he also knows how difficult it is to remain near the top of the conference.

“Right now, we’re just trying to keep playing well,” he said. “I thought we competed at a pretty good level for all 80 minutes. It wasn’t always perfect, but the competitiveness and the effort was there. Obviously, there’s a lot of tough games coming up. You can see how good everybody in the league is. You can see, from the other scores, how balanced everything is. Just thankful that we’re still getting some good results.”

The Huskies had to battle back both games to earn the wins, but he liked that his team found its identity defensively to make up for some offensive struggles at points both nights.

“It’s the control-what-you-can-control thing,” said Buettner. “I mean, you can’t always control the shots going in or out. I think, offensively, we weren’t probably at our best in either of the first halves this week, but we defended at a high level, we were getting enough stops, and even when we weren’t getting stops, usually it was them hitting pretty tough shots. When you’re defending at a pretty good level, you can hang around and eventually, especially when you have some talented kids that can take over the game late, you’re giving yourself a chance.”

When discussing how his team is defending, Buettner is quick to point out how junior guard Josh Terrian shut down the Cardinals’ leading scorer, Tootles Seal, in the second half Thursday. Seal had just two points in the second half after scoring 16 in the first. Buettner also liked the efforts of junior guard Nate Abel, freshman guard Gabe Smith, and sophomore guard Matt Schmainda, as all three drew the assignment of covering the Warriors’ top scorer, Rob Lee Jr., who had scored 40 against Northern Michigan on Thursday.

“Those guys are everywhere defensively,” Buettner said. “Wayne State had multiple guards and they had to earn everything. Rob Lee was coming off 40-point night, and those guys all had their chances at him. I know he scored 19, but he really had to work at it and get to the foul line to get a couple of them.”

On the offensively side of the floor, In an exciting moment in the second half Saturday, senior guard Adam Hobson hit a 3-pointer that helped him cross the 1,000 career points plateau.

“It’s awesome for ‘Hobbs,'” Buettner said. “Talked about it with him, and with a lot of people. His role has changed so much year to year, and the one thing he’s always been is just a great teammate and a great Husky. Honestly, I’m just really happy for him to get to that 1,000.

“It’s an awesome achievement. He’s worked hard. He’s been in that gym for going on five years, pretty much every morning on his own, getting extra work in, and it’s a well deserved honor.”

In terms of having an impact on both ends of the floor, Buettner has loved what he has gotten all season from junior forward Dawson Nordgaard. While he is not going to be the leading scorer offensively, nor is he going to be the leading rebounder defensively, what Nordgaard brings, when he draws extra attention in the paint, is an ability to open the floor for his teammates in a big way.

“When we don’t have him out there, we’re clearly not as good of a team,” said Buettner. “When he’s in foul trouble, we’ve struggled offensively and defensively. It’s so much more than the statistics show. He’s not one of the leading rebounders in the league, but we’re a very good rebounding team when he’s out there, because he’s boxing out, opening things up, and keeping, usually, the other team’s best rebounder off the glass.

“He doesn’t have a ton of blocked shots, but he creates a lot of indecision. Offensively, I think he’s averaging double figures, or close to double figures. He’s shooting a great percentage, but he’s creating more opportunities offensively than those numbers show, just drawing help in there, allowing us to play inside-out basketball. So, yes, Dawson’s been huge for us.”

SCOUTING THE

LAKERS

The Lake Superior State Lakers come into this weekend as one of the top teams in the GLIAC thanks to a record of 15-3 overall and 6-2 in conference play. They are coming off a split last week as they topped Purdue Northwest on Thursday, but fell to Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday, 66-63.

The Lakers have five players averaging in double figures, led by senior guard Tyson Edmonson, who is scoring 15.9 points per game. Senior forward Kingsley Perkins (13.1), senior forward Hunter Soper (11.1), senior guard Devin Womack (10.7), and sophomore guard Adam Harakow (10.6) are all averaging in double figures as well.

SCOUTING

THE BULLDOGS

The Ferris State Bulldogs continue to be a measuring stick for the rest of the GLIAC. They lost to the eventual national champion Minnesota State last season in the quarterfinals. This year, they are 17-2 overall and 7-1 in the conference after a split last week, losing to Wisconsin-Parkside on Thursday and defeating Purdue Northwest on Saturday.

The Bulldogs rely on senior guard Ethan Erickson, who averages 16.8 points per game. Junior guard Tyler Hamilton and junior forward Nathan Claerbaut are also averaging in double figures at 11.2 points per game and 10.7, respectively.

GAME TIMES

The Huskies and Lakers are set to tip-off Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Sault Ste. Marie. The Huskies and Bulldogs are set to do battle Saturday at 3 p.m. in Big Rapids.