The Saginaw Valley State University Men's basketball team (9-14 overall, 6-9 GLIAC) battled back from an early 18-point deficit to trail by 10 at the half, before rallying in the second half to force overtime, then double-overtime, ultimately pulling off a 105-94 double-OT victory over the Michigan Tech University Huskies (12-10 overall, 9-6 GLIAC) at the James O'Neill Arena on the SVSU campus tonight.
SVSU red-shirt freshman Sabastiano Lamonato made a layup and senior Mike Wells Jr. hit a three, accounting for all 5 of Saginaw Valley's points in the first overtime, before Wells Jr. dropped another 8 of his team's 14-points in the second overtime to lead the Cardinals past Tech.
Tech had controlled the first half pace, jumping out to a 26-8 lead in the first 8-minutes of the game, led by the hot hand of Michigan Tech junior Kyle Monroe, who was a thorn in the SVSU side, scoring 22-first half points, however, SVSU managed to cut the Huskies lead to 47-37 heading into halftime.
Trailing 52-44 in the first 6-minutes of the second half, SVSU had an opportunity to cut the Tech lead to 6-points when Lamonato was fouled, however, he made just 1 of the 2 free throws, while Monroe responded by draining another three to put the Huskies back up (55-45) by ten.
With 12:01 to play, SVSU freshman guard James Toohey hit a three to cut the Tech lead to 58-54 when Monroe was called for a technical foul, sending Wells to the line, where he hit just one of the two free throw's to make it a 58-55 game.
The missed SVSU free throw opened the door for Tech, as Monroe answered with a long two, however, Wells and Toohey responded with a pair of three's respectively, giving the Cardinals its first lead of the game 61-60 with 10:34 left to play.
The final 10-minutes of the second half turned into to the Wells and Monroe show, with the two sharp shooters trading bombs down the stretch, with the game staying close until there was less than a minute left in regulation.
Michigan Tech finally pulled ahead by five (86-81) when Monroe drained a three with just 36-seconds left in regulation, which seemed to seal the Cardinals' fate, however, Wells answered with a high-arching three of his own to make it a 2-point game (86-84) with 27-seconds left.
Ten seconds later, following a Tech miss, Wells pushed the ball up the court and found sophomore Fred John Jr., who was slashing to the hoop when he took the pass from Wells and tied the game (86-86) with a layup with 17-seconds left, eventually forcing the first overtime.
Wells led SVSU with a career high 44-points, 7-assists, 2-steals, and 1-rebound, followed by Toohey, who had 22-points, and Lamonato, who was just a rebound shy of a double-double with 15-points and 9-rebounds.
SVSU freshman DJ Hoskins added 10-points, and Midland native, sophomore Malik Garner finished with 8-points, while John Jr. added 4-points and Fowler, MI freshman guard Jeremy Pung chipped in with 2-points.
Monroe set the GLIAC single game record with a game high 50-points tonight, adding 11-rebounds to pace the Huskies with a double-double. Tech junior guard Bryan Heath followed with 18-points, along with 9-points from sophomore Ryan Schuller.
Michigan Tech will stick around the Great Lakes Bay Region to prepare for a 3 pm tip off against Northwood University at the Bennett Sports Center in Midland, MI on Saturday, while SVSU prepares to host Northern Michigan University for a 3 pm tip right back here at the James O'Neill Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Michigan Tech junior Kyle Monroe sets the GLIAC single game record of 50-points with a free throw:
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Feb 09, 2018
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