HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Purdue Northwest men's basketball team fell 83-55 at Michigan Tech Saturday afternoon inside MTU's Student Development Complex Gymnasium.
PNW dropped to 3-11 (0-6 GLIAC) overall while the homestanding Huskies improved to 9-3 (5-1 GLIAC) on the season.
HEAD COACH BOOMER ROBERTS:
"Michigan Tech played great today. They made us pay every time we were late. On the other end, we got some good looks but obviously struggled to make shots. This entire weekend we didn't shoot it well, so we've got to get in the gym and keep working."
How it happened: PNW never led in the contest but stayed within striking distance in the first half as a
Caleb Zurliene (Breese, Ill./Mater Dei) layup made it 15-11 MTU near the 13-minute mark.
However, that basket from Zurliene would become PNW's last made field goal in the opening period until
Mikell Cooper's (Milwaukee, Wis./Bradley Tech) layup in the final minute. The Huskies outscored the Pride 33-9 over that 12-minute stretch. The Pride were limited to six made field goals and would convert more free throws (7) than shot attempts in the first half.
MTU led 43-20 at the break, drained eight 3-pointers in the opening stanza alone, and finished shooting 52% from beyond the arc with 15 threes on the day.
Anthony Barnard (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) led the Pride with 12 points while
Jyrus Freels (Evansville, Ind./Francis Joseph Reitz) logged double figures with 10 points.
Caleb Zurliene (Breese, Ill./Mater Dei) pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
PNW was limited to its season-low point total, shooting percentage (30.6%), and three-point shooting percentage (12.5%) in the defeat. The Pride went 15 for 22 at the line and kept even with the Huskies on the glass with 41 rebounds for both squads.
Eric Carl led all scorers with 22 points for the Huskies. Carl went 6 for 7 from three-point range and finished 8 of 11 overall. Owen White had 17 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.
UP NEXT
PNW returns home to host Parkside on Thursday, Jan. 13, for a 7 p.m. tipoff at the Hammond Campus Fitness & Recreation Center. Next Saturday's home contest against Northwood has been postponed.
FOLLOW THE PRIDE
For all the latest information on Purdue Northwest men's basketball, please visit PNWathletics.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Pride (@pnwathletics & @PNWBasketball) on Twitter. You can also find the Pride on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
