Walsh Edges Tech 69-63 in Men's Basketball
Audio: Coach Luke Postgame Interview
NORTH
CANTON, Ohio — Michigan Tech dropped its second straight
GLIAC game today, falling to Walsh 69-63 at Alumni Arena. The
Huskies (3-2, 0-2 GLIAC) had a nine-point lead early in the second
half but couldn't hold on to get their first league win.
Ben
Stelzer dropped in 27 points to lead all
scorers, but the Cavaliers shot 55 percent from the field in their
win.
"We made progress today," said Tech coach Kevin Luke. "I'm not
happy we lost, but I'm happy that we got better.
"We got that lead in the second half and fizzled a little bit. It's
not an excuse, but I think being on the road 10 of the last 12 days
took its toll on our guys."
Both teams were coming off tough losses in their GLIAC opener
Thursday (Dec. 4), and something had to give.
Walsh built up a 25-14 lead in the first 13 minutes before the
Huskies battled back. Phil
Romback, Jordan
Chartier and Stelzer (2) all hit
3-pointers to pull the Black and Gold even at 28-all with 2:36 left
in the stanza. The hosts scored the final four points of the half
to enter the halftime locker room up 32-28.
Tech came out of the intermission with strong play on both ends.
Eight points by Jason
Hawke in the first seven minutes of the second helped
the Huskies build a nine-point lead. Walsh came back to get within
one at 50-49 with 9:04 showing. Nobody scored again until a
four-point play by Jesse Hardin with 7:40 remaining, which was
likely the turning point against the Huskies. They never regained
the lead.
Stelzer made three free throws with 2:17 left to make it a
one-possession game, but Hardin's jumper pushed the margin back to
five. He also swished four free throws in crunch time to help
account for the final 69-63 margin.
Tech shot 43 percent from the field and 10-of-30 (33 percent) from
3-point range. Walsh hit 55 percent of its field goals.
Hawke (11 points) was the only Tech player joining Stelzer in
double figures. Phil Romback turned in a game-high eight rebounds
off the bench.
Trey Fletcher led a balanced Cavaliers attack with 16 points.
Hardin had 14.
Michigan Tech will finally play a regular season home game next
week. Findlay comes to Houghton next Thursday (Dec. 11) for a 7:30
p.m. tipoff.