MEN’S BASKETBALL

A short-staffed HU men’s basketball team suffered a 96-89 road loss to Bethel Tuesday evening at the Wiekamp Athletic Center.

It was the Pilots’ seven-point halftime lead, 47-40, that carried them to the win as both squads poured in 49 points in the final twenty minutes. HU’s offense in the second frame was impressive. As a team, the guests coughed up the ball just twice while canning 56.3 percent of their field goals which included going 9-for-14 from long range.

While BU committed five more TOs than Huntington and made just three triples in the period, they made up for it by scoring four more points at the charity stripe and creating a few extra possessions by way of their offensive rebounding to log 19 field goals to HU’s 18.

Despite playing even with Bethel in the last twenty minutes, the Foresters still found themselves chasing their hosts most of the night. Alford’s crew led on four different occasions, all within the first four minutes of the game. HU also forced six ties with all but one of those stalemates coming within this same timeframe.

The game’s final deadlock came on the heels of an 8-0 run that saw Peyton West and Ben Humrichous each drain a three after which Humrichous scored in the paint to draw things even at 56-56 five minutes into the second half.

The Pilots (6-3, 2-0) fired back by scoring 13 of the game’s next 17 points to up their lead to nine. A final surge by Huntington that included back-to-back triples by Caleb Middlesworth trimmed it to a single possession at 71-69 with nine minutes to go. Unfortunately, that’s as close as it would get as Bethel was able to hold their guests at arm’s length the rest of the way to remain undefeated in league play.

Zach Goodline topped all scorers with 28 points, tying his career-high from Saturday, in addition to handing out six dimes. Humrichous finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds for his second career double double. Middlesworth dropped in 17 points while West posted 11 points and a game-best seven assists.

Jared DeHart piled up 27 points to lead the Pilots. Nathan Aerts added 22 points while Zac Owens and Brandon Hunt tossed in 13 and ten points respectively. Hunt also grabbed 13 boards, six of which were offensive, to enjoy game-high rebounding honors and a double double.

The Foresters’ overall record stands at 5-3 which includes an 0-2 start in conference play. Next up is a road trip to Siena Heights on Saturday.