MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Huntington men’s basketball team wrapped up the Ness Bros. Hall of Fame Classic with a 72-61 win over IU Southeast Saturday at Platt Arena. With this W, the Foresters continue their hot start by improving to 4-0 while the Grenadiers (0-3) are left still searching for a win. IUSE is the third River States Conference opponent HU has faced this season.

Aside from the opening possession, the hosts never trailed and only endured two ties. Despite being in command the majority of the afternoon, the two halves looked very different.

The Foresters’ biggest lead in the opening period was a seven-point difference after a Peyton West triple at the 15:29 mark that give HU a 9-2 advantage. IUSE closed the gap to two possessions their next trip down the floor and then made sure they stayed within striking distance the rest of the frame.

Knotted up at 30-30 with just under two minutes remaining, Ben Humrichous canned his first of three from deep after which Hank Pulver went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe and then scored in the paint in the waning seconds of the period for a 6-0 run that sent HU into intermission with a 36-30 lead.

Huntington extended their run into the second half by stringing together nine more points in the first two minutes to cushion the lead at 43-30. Three minutes later, IU Southeast had cut it to single digits at 47-38 but the Foresters weren’t having it. They locked down defensively to only give up three points over the next five minutes to swell their advantage to 61-42 by the midway point of the stanza for a lead that wouldn’t be challenged the rest of the way.

Alford’s crew would go on to up their lead to as many as 23 before settling for the 11-point win. It’s HU’s second double-digit victory of the year.

Humrichous led a balanced Forester attack with 14 points. The 6-8 rookie also tallied seven rebounds and game bests of five assists and three blocks. Caleb Middlesworth posted 13 points and nine rebounds. Pulver and Zach Goodline each chipped in ten points. Pulver also corralled nine boards to share game-high rebounding honors with Middlesworth.

As a team, HU outscored their visitors from beyond the arc 33-15 and won the battle of the boards 54-35.

David Burton finished with 13 points to lead IUSE while Trey Hourigan and Glenn Hill tossed in 12 and 11 points respectively.

The Foresters hits the road for the first time this season on Tuesday to face Lawrence Tech at 7:00 p.m.