SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - With a perfect mark from the field in overtime on Saturday, Lake Superior State men's basketball defeated Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Upper Peninsula rivals, Michigan Tech, 98-84, outscoring their opponents by 14 points in the five-minute extra period.
The Lakers (13-7, 10-6 GLIAC) were unable to close out a pesky MTU bunch that knocked down a pair of free throws with 33 seconds to tie the game up. Sophomore Kyle Monroe tied things up for the Huskies (13-10, 11-5 GLIAC) with his two free throws to finish with 15 points and marked the game's only double-double by grabbing 11 rebounds.
In overtime, the Lakers opened with a three from Akaemji Williams and quickly went up by six points with another three from Jordan Dasuqi, just over a minute later. Sophomore guard Josh Goldschmidt capped an 11-0 run for LSSU to start overtime with a strong drive into the lane and made a floating jumper through traffic. Following a Tommy Lucca free throw, Williams scored the next six of eight LSSU points during an 8-0 run to go up 97-79 with 50 seconds remaining. Williams later added a free throw with 15 seconds remaining for his team-leading 28th point of the night.
Williams also racked up seven assists and made four steals in the game while shooting 10-of-16 from the floor and 3-of-6 from behind the arc.
Lucca led the Huskies with a game-high 29 points and added seven assists and five rebounds.
Off the bench, senior center Michael Smutny earned extra minutes with Michael Nicholson picking up his fifth foul with 7:16 remaining. Smutny tied Goldschmidt for second on the team with 17 points and five rebounds while helping the LSSU bench outscore MTU 24-4. For Goldschmidt, his 17 points marked a career-high, coming on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor. The native of Maple Grove, Minn., also tied personal season-highs of eight rebounds and four assists.
LSSU also dominated inside, outscoring the Huskies 46-30.
The Lakers hit the road next week, matching up with Ferris State on Thursday before Saturday's rematch against Grand Valley State.
