BrianLester posted on February 04, 2012 00:48
By BRIAN LESTER
STAFF WRITER
HOUGHTON, Mich. -- University of Findlay head coach Charlie Ernst found a statistic earlier this week that highlights the difficulty of winning on the road.
It pointed out that home teams tend to win a little over 70 percent of the time.
The stat rang true Thursday night against Michigan Tech at the SDC Gymnasium.
The Oilers never got untracked offensively and couldn't make enough plays on defense to avoid a 70-56 loss to the Huskies.
Findlay is 1-4 on the road in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play and suffered another blow to its chances of winning a South Division crown.
"Life is tough on the road. We knew that going into this game," Ernst said. "I read somewhere that the home team wins 72 percent of the time in college basketball. Our guys want to win on the road and they play hard. I'm confident we'll get this thing turned around when it comes to winning road games."
There were signs of life early in the first half. The Oilers (15-5, 9-4 GLIAC) overcame a 6-0 deficit and eventually tied the game at 18. But for the most part, the Huskies controlled every aspect of this game.
"Give coach (Kevin) Luke credit for having his team ready to go. He always has his teams prepared, especially for Thursday night games in the conference," Ernst said. "They haven't lost a Thursday night GLIAC game. They made their shots tonight and we couldn't get shots to fall even though we had some open looks."
Findlay took its only lead with 12:40 to go in the opening half. Kyle Caiola hit two free throws to put the Oilers in front 9-7.
But the Oilers would score only 11 points the rest of the half, failing to hit a field goal in the final five minutes and falling behind 26-20 by halftime to the Huskies (11-9, 9-4).
"They threw a couple of junk defenses at us that you normally don't see in college basketball," Ernst said. "They used a triangle and one and a diamond and two and we were a little confused. We struggled to get into a rhythm."
The trend continued in the second half.
Brad Piehl missed a jumper at the start of the final period and Alex Culy answered with a 3-pointer on the other end.
The Oilers trailed by as many as 18 in the second half and shot only 35.2 percent (19 of 54) from the field, surprisingly low for a team that came in shooting 49.2 percent from the floor.
Caiola and Aaron Robinson scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, but no one else scored more than seven for a Findlay team that averages a league-best 80.2 points per outing.
"They played good defense and they did a good job of executing their offense," Ernst said. "We had good defense at times but they made some tough shots that can deflate you when you aren't hitting your shots."
The Huskies had lost three of their last five games but bounced back behind 16 points and 12 rebounds from Mike Hojnacki and a 48.9 percent (23 of 47) shooting performance. Ali Haidar added 13 points.
Life doesn't get any easier for the Oilers. They will wrap up this two-game trip to the Upper Peninsula at 1 p.m. Saturday at Northern Michigan (8-12, 4-9).
"I'm not worried about our effort and energy. Our guys are playing hard and they are playing with desire," Ernst said.
"We competed right until the buzzer. We have to put this one behind us quickly. I feel like our team is going to find ways to win on the road. The easiest way to forget this loss is to win on Saturday. We'll prepare for Northern and come out ready to play."
findlay (15-5, 9-4)
Kahlig 2-6 3-3 7, Piehl 2-8 1-2 6, Frilling 2-5 0-0 4, Caiola 4-8 4-4 13, Robinson 4-13 90-1 12, Samsel 2-4 0-0 5, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, J. Smith 2-6 1-2 6, Marsden 0-1 0-0 0, Heagen 1-3 0-0 3. TOTALS: 19-54 9-12--56.
michigan tech (11-9, 9-4)
Haidar 5-9 3-4 13, Hojnacki 5-8 4-6 16, Culy 2-3 2-3 8, Brown 2-2 0-0 5, Stelzer 2-4 2-3 7, Armga 2-5 4-4 9, Esters 0-2 0-0 0, Gaedke 0-1 0-0 0, Reetz 2-5 0-0 5, Romback 3-7 0-0 7, Olley 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23-47 15-20--70.
HALFTIME: Michigan Tech, 26-20.
3-Point GOALS: Findlay 9-22 (Robinson 4-8, J Smith 1-1, Heagen 1-2, Samsel 1-3, Caiola 1-3, Piehl 1-3, Kahlig 0-1, Marsden 0-1); Michigan Tech 9-16 (Hojnacki 2-3, Culy 2-3, Reetz 1-1, Brown 1-1, Armga 1-2, Stelzer 1-3, Romback 1-3).
rebounds: Findlay 29 (Frilling, J. Smith & Marsden 5); Michigan Tech 34 (Hojnacki 12). ASSISTS: Findlay 7 (Caiola & Robinson 3); Michigan Tech 15 (Brown 5). STEALS: Findlay 5 (Caiola 2); Michigan Tech 6 (Culy 2). BLOCKS: Findlay 3 (Frilling 2); Michigan Tech 1.
TURNOVERS: Findlay 10, Michigan Tech 11. TOTAL FOULS: Findlay 20, Michigan Tech 13. FOULED OUT: None.
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