David Archambeau/For the Gazette Michigan Tech junior guard Carter Johnston (15) drives to the basket against UW-Parkside during the GLIAC quarterfinals on Wednesday in Houghton.
HOUGHTON — The Michigan Tech men’s basketball team beat UW-Parkside 66-53 on Wednesday in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference quarterfinals on Wednesday.
The No. 2-seed Huskies led early, had a scare, and then pulled away in the second half against No. 7-seed UW-Parkside. And now, due to No. 8 Davenport’s upset of No. 1 Ferris State, Michigan Tech hosts NMU in the GLIAC semifinals at noon Saturday.
Davenport plays Saginaw Valley State in the other semifinal at 2 p.m. Saturday at the SDC. The GLIAC championshp is at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the SDC.
Tech junior standout Owen White paced the field with 20 points – his 10th game reaching that plateau this season – resulting from 50% shooting (8 of 16 overall from the field and 3 of 6 on 3-pointers). Senior Husky Trent Bell was very productive as well with another double-double this season, 15 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 60% from the field (6-10), including 3 for 5 from long range.
“(White is) an All-American,” said Michigan Tech head coach Josh Buettner, making his post-season debut as Tech’s head coach. “He’s a player of the year (in this conference). He had two or three guys on him every time he touched it.
“He did a did a nice job (with assists). Got some guys some wide open looks. He just handles it. He’s a facilitator and he (also) found a way to score 20 points with all that (defensive) attention.”
“(Bell’s) second half was unbelievable,” Buettner said. “He’s so good defensively. He really stepped up in the second half and did a good job (guarding) Jamir Simpson, who was really hurting us in the first half.”
Tech had won 10 of their last 11 coming into Wedneasday’s tilt – with the only loss to Ferris State – but the team was careful to stay focused on the current opponent.
“I think we just we all want to play for each other and keep pushing towards our goals,” said Bell afterwards. “Anytime we lose now it could be my last game ever. So trying to extend that as much as I can and make one more solid run in the tournament.”
Junior Carter Johnston also hit double-figures for Tech with 10 points (4 of 7 FG, 2 of 2 on 3-pointers), and grabbed seven rebounds.
Starting redshirt-freshman Simpson led the Rangers with 17 points.
In additon to solid numbers from beyond the arc – team overall 11 of 23 (48%) on 3-pointers – Tech also controlled the paint, outscoring Parkside inside by a 26-18 margin.
Tech was in charge early on, taking advantage of Ranger injuries to some key contributors. Midway through the first half, the Huskies had worked up to a 28-20 lead, but then Parkside crawled back into the game with back-to-back scores from Simpson.
Parkside then got into the bonus and Ranger junior Cameron Myre hit both ends of the first 1-and-1 to cut the Tech margin to only one point at 30-29. Then in the final minute of the half, redshirt freshman Colin O’Rourke drained a three to give UW-P their first lead 32-30, which was the halftime score.
The Huskies put together an 8-0 run over about two minutes of game time, fueled by 3-pointers from redshirt-freshman Brad Simonsen and White.
That momentum culminated in a 17-3 rush for Tech and a commanding 55-43 lead with about seven minutes left.
Parkside never really cut into that margin the rest of the way.
