Haidar leads MTU Men to victory
Courtesy of MTU Athletics
HOUGHTON, Mich. – Senior Ali Haidar scored 27 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for the Michigan Tech men’s basketball team in a 64-55 win over Ferris State Thursday (Feb. 7). Haidar is now the all-time career rebounding leader for the Huskies with 806.
The Huskies opened the contest with back-to-back 3-pointers by sophomore Ben
Stelzer and senior Matt Esters, Tech would lead by as many as nine in the half before entering the half leading 28-22.
The Tech lead would grow to a game-high 15 points four times, the last following a 3-pointer by Stelzer at 3:06.
The Bulldogs answered with nine straight points to cut the Huskies’ lead to six. Tech made three of their final four free throws to seal the win.
Stelzer finished 16 points, including four 3-pointers. His school record of 32 consecutive free throws came to end with a miss from the line in the first half.
Daniel Sutherlin and Dietrich Lever each led FSU with 12 points a piece. Kenny Brown, who entered the contest averaging 16.5 points per game, finished with five points.
“We can’t let up,” said head coach Kevin Luke. “We got lazy, and we didn’t execute the last two minutes.”
Tech finished with advantages in both rebounds 38-25 and made free throws 22-9.
Tech (14-6, 11-5) will host Grand Valley State Saturday (Feb. 9).