PNW Men’s Basketball Allow Leads to Slip Away in Loss to Michigan Tech
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Purdue University Northwest men’s basketball team had early leads but let them slip away as the Pride dropped a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) game to Michigan Technological University, 72-46, Saturday afternoon at the Student Development Gymnasium in Houghton, Mich.
Senior Torrance Johnson (Chicago Heights, Ill./Hope Academy) led the way for the Pride with 23 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Franklin Nunn (Anderson, Ind./Liberty Christian) scored eight points and pulled down six boards. Freshman Richard Roberston (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) added seven points and four rebounds in the setback.
Freshman Kaleb Howard (Russiaville, Ind./Western) slammed it home at the 15:53 to spark an 8-3 run to start the game for the Pride, but MTU came back and scored five unanswered. PNW did not go away as the Pride had another run of their run, scoring the next nine points capped off by the lay-up by Franklin Nunn made it 17-8 with 8:46 left in the half.
The Huskies stormed back in the next six minutes, scoring 12 unanswered and holding Purdue Northwest scoreless to put Michigan Tech on top, 20-17. Back-to-back lay-ups by Roberston and Johnson gave PNW the lead right back.
Dawson Bilski nailed a three-pointer to tie the game at 23 all going into halftime. Michigan Tech carried that momentum into the second half as the Huskies caught fire from three. Bilski and Bryan Health hit two to give MTU the eight point lead.
Johnson responded with a lay-up to make 37-31 at the 14:07 mark, but MTU knocked down another three this time by Kyle Monroe.
Michigan Tech made a 24-7 run in a span of eight minutes which gave them a 24-point lead with 6:11 left in the game. The Huskies outscored the Pride 49-23 in the second half, with the Huskies shooting 61.3 percent from the field (19-for-31) and 56.3 percent from three (9-for-16).
Purdue Northwest (1-21, 1-13 GLIAC) returns home on Thursday, Feb. 8 as the Pride host Davenport University (Mich.) in a GLIAC match-up at the James B. Dworkin Student Services and Activities Complex in Westville, Ind. Tip-off is scheduled for a 7 p.m. CT start.