UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team held out through a late push by the Huskies to win 69-58 to improve to 3-1 in league play. The Cardinals (8-6, 3-1 GLIAC) held the lead for almost 37 minutes to claim the victory.

Tre Garrett led SVSU with 17 points on 6-12 shooting from the floor. Freddie McIntosh tallied 15 points in the winning effort. Maurice Barnett and Jiovanni Miles scored nine points. Barnett registered a team-high nine rebounds on the evening.

The score remained close through the first three and a half minutes of play as Garrett made two free throws to begin five-straight points that gave SVSU the final lead of the game with 16:04 on the clock. Michigan Tech cut the margin to three points before a 5-0 run extended things to eight points with 14:13 on the clock. The lead remained in the single digits until McIntosh hit a jumper with five seconds left in the half to give the Cardinals a 37-27 advantage at the break. 

MTU rallied to cut the deficit to nine points in the first seven minutes of the second. Steven Post hit a layup to ignite a 5-0 run that moved the needle back to 14 with just over 12 minutes to play. Another rally by Michigan Tech brought the team within four points of tying things up, but Miles shut the door with a layup off a turnover that began a 7-0 run to put the edge back to 12. The margin slid back to five points, but the Cardinals hit their free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

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The SVSU men's basketball team hosts Northern Michigan on Saturday, January 7. The game with the Wildcats is set to begin at 3:00 p.m.