UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team fell 84-79 against Michigan Tech on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals (13-13, 6-11 GLIAC) climbed back from an 18-point deficit in the second half to come within three points of tying the game in the final 24 seconds, but the Huskies ( 10-15, 7-9 GLIAC) hold on for the win.
Dylan West had a career day for SVSU as he scored a season-high 19 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double.
Curtis Jackson scored his only points of the game to start the Cardinals off with a 3-0 lead in the opening possession of the game. Michigan Tech knotted the score for the first time at four points.
The score would be tied six more times throughout the first half as the score remained close for the entire opening session.
With the score tied at 24, the Huskies used a 5-0 run to build a slim lead with 8:17 left before the break. West responded with a layup that sparked a 5-0 run in response to tie the game at 29 with 7:29 on the clock.
After trading buckets for another tie at 31, MTU used another 5-0 run to regain the advantage before building the 44-37 edge as the teams entered the locker room at the half.
The lead moved to double-digits in the first four minutes of the second stanza as the Huskies pulled away for a 53-42 lead.
Later on in the half, a 12-0 run by Michigan Tech would give the game its widest margin at 70-52 with less than 10 minutes remaining in regulation.
Freddie McIntosh hit a step-back jumper that ignited a 7-0 run and dropped the deficit to just eight points in the final four minutes of play.
McIntosh added another jumper at the 2:00 mark that led to two huge three-point jumpers to close the gap further. Ethan Hill made the first shot from deep at 1:25 before a turnover gave McIntosh an open shot from beyond the arc that he drilled to cut the gap to 80-77 with 24 ticks left on the clock.
The Cardinals were forced to foul and MTU hit all four free throws to close out the game.
UP NEXT
Saginaw Valley State men's basketball will close out the regular season next Saturday at home against Wayne State. The game is set for 3:00 p.m., EST, and is the annual Cancer Survivor game as well as Senior Day.
