UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The No. 6-ranked Indiana Tech men's basketball team fell to NCAA Division II foe Saginaw Valley State, 71-66, on Saturday afternoon at O'Neill Arena to close out its nonconference slate for the season.
Darren Groves scored a team-high 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds while
Nic Williams had 12 points.
Joel Wincowski added 10 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season while
Max Huber chipped in eight points, four rebounds and three assists off the bench.
The Cardinals would start off the game with an 11-0 run over the first three and a half minutes of the contest, the second in less than 24 hours for the Warriors, who missed their first six shots from the field and committed three turnovers. Saginaw Valley would extend their lead to 20 with 11:11 left in the first half following another 11-0 spurt and held a 21-point lead, their largest of the game, at 29-8 with 10:33 to go in the first.
A basket from Williams would get Tech in gear as they went on a 13-3 run to cut the deficit to 11 points with just under six minutes until the half. SVSU would grow their advantage back up to 17 with six straight points, but the Orange and Black would score the last seven points of the half to make it a 38-28 game at the break.
The Warriors would continue to slowly cut away at the deficit in the second half, using an 11-7 spurt to get the lead down to five at 51-46 with 8:54 left in the game. Tech would keep within striking distance of the Cardinals, not allowing the hosts to increase their lead by more than nine the rest of the game, while a 7-0 run from Groves and Huber made it a 65-63 game with 26 seconds left on the clock.
SVSU would convert all six of their attempts from the free throw line in the final 21 seconds though, to ice the game and hand the Warriors just their second nonconference loss.
Tech (14-3) finishes their nonconference slate with an 8-2 mark and returns to Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) action on Wednesday, January 3, as they travel to Southfield, Michigan to battle Lawrence Tech. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. from Don Ridler Field House.
