Stelzer leads Huskies past the Warriors

HOUGHTON, Mich. — Ben Stelzer hit five first-half 3-pointers and finished the game with 28 points to guide Michigan Tech to a 72-61 victory over Wayne State in GLIAC men’s basketball today at the SDC Gym. The senior ended the game with six makes from long range as part of an 11-for-21 effort by the Huskies from behind the arc.

Three-point shooting was the only real disparity between the teams on the final stat sheet. Both squads shot 50-plus percent while rebounds (Wayne 27, Tech 25) and turnovers (Wayne 15, Tech 12) were similar.

Tech buried 11 triples while the visitors were 4-of-11.

“Wayne State came in and executed a pretty good game plan,” said Tech coach Kevin Luke. “They play as hard as anybody in our league.

“That said, I think we played well on both ends of the floor, especially in crunch time. Every time they’d get within six or seven, we were able to answer to make it 10 or more again.”

WSU (1-5, 1-2 GLIAC) started the game up 12-6 before Kyle Stankowski scored five straight points.

Stelzer’s fourth 3-pointer of the game at the eight-minute mark gave Tech the lead for good. His fifth of the half made it a seven point game with 4:02 left.

Tech went on to a 39-26 advantage at the break.

Wayne pulled within 45-38 with 12:12 to play before a back-door pass from Luke Heller to Stelzer made the margin nine. The Warriors cut their deficit to single digits twice more in the game, but Stelzer had the answer each time to help the Huskies close out their fifth win of the season.

Stelzer went 9-of-13 from the field and also had four rebounds, four steals and three assists. Stankowski set a new career high with 17 points of 8-of-10 shooting and had three blocks. Jordan Chartier had 12 points—all on 3-pointers.

Marcus Moore notched 20 points and was the only WSU player in double figures.

Michigan Tech (5-2, 2-2 GLIAC) will play its final non-conference game next Saturday (Dec. 20) at UW-Parkside.

(Information/Photo Courtesy of MTU Athletics)