Cardinals stop Huskies 66-49

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - A second-half slide contributed to a 66-49 loss for Michigan Tech men's basketball Saturday afternoon against Saginaw Valley State in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. Despite the loss, Trent Bell notched a double-double with 21 points, 10 rebounds but the Huskies were held to just 33-percent shooting and 19 second-half points. Darnell Hoskins Jr. posted 21 points with three steals for SVSU and Tyler Witz was effective in the post, particularly in the first half and finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

After winning at Wayne State on Thursday, the Huskies finish their road trip 1-1 and moved to 10-4 overall, 6-2 in conference play. Saginaw Valley State (10-5, 4-3) improved to 7-1 at home and handed Tech its first loss in five outings.

The teams traded baskets early. Owen White helped Tech assemble a 7-0 run to take a 4-point lead midway through the first half, but the Cardinals answered with eight straight points and seized momentum before halftime 40-30. Michigan Tech shot 40-percent in the first half while the Cardinals connected on 58-percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes.

After the break, Michigan Tech nabbed a pair of turnovers and scored six straight points to cut the deficit to three but passing miscues and missed shots piled up thereafter as Saginaw Valley State found long-range opportunities late for a 10-0 run with 1:42 remaining in the game, effectively putting the game out of reach.

The Huskies held Delano Smith to 14 points but failed to slow down Hoskins Jr., who went 5-for-10 from the floor and 4-for 7 from downtown. Smith and James Toohey had three steals for the Cardinals. Carter Johnston picked off three for the Huskies.

SVSU grabbed 38 rebounds and passed 11 assists with 20 turnovers. Tech finished with 14 assists, 15 turnovers, and 30 boards (two offensive). Fouls favored the Cardinals 16-8 and the Huskies did not make it to the free line in the game.

"I was proud of how hard we defended on the road," said head coach Josh Buettner. "We grew in the sense that we kept competing defensively when shots weren't falling. Now we have to figure out how to manufacture points and we have to figure out how to get to the free throw line. Zero attempts wasn't enough."

Trent Bell was named Superior National Bank Superior Player of the Game after notching his third double-double of the season. Bell went 8-for-16 from the field, including 5 of 10 from beyond the arc.

Michigan Tech (10-4, 6-2) returns home to host Grand Valley State on Thursday, January 20 at 7:30 p.m.