MEN’S BASKETBALL

The #25 HU men’s basketball team made the short trip to Marion Wednesday night for a top 25 showdown against #11 Indiana Wesleyan. The Wildcats (12-4, 6-0) opened up the contest with the first five points to never trail for an eventual 83-69 win over their guests at Luckey Arena.

Huntington spent the next eight minutes recovering from their early five-point disparity to force the game’s only  tie at 17-17 midway through the first half. The two teams traded significant runs after that.

The Wildcats racked up 12 of the game’s next 14 points to balloon their advantage to double digits at 29-17. But HU fired right back with a 9-0 spurt bolstered by a patented Landen Jordan dunk, Lane Sparks three-point play and Zach Goodline trifecta. The run pulled the guests within a single point at 29-28 with just over four minutes left in the period.

It was a 39-32 spread by intermission with the second half proving not quite as thrilling for Alford and crew. Each time the Foresters threatened a comeback, IWU always had an answer. On three different occasions through the first seven minutes of the second half, HU trimmed it to two possessions but could get no closer.

By the 12:34 mark, the hosts established a ten-point lead of 57-47. While Huntington cut it to single digits a handful of times after that, the last time with four minutes to go, the Wildcats closed out the game with an exclamation mark by scoring on five straight possessions, which included a pair of late dunks, to separate themselves by 14 by the end.

The Wildcats finished with eight more field goals than HU by going 33-for-62 from the floor (53.2 percent) which included seven treys. Huntington posted a 48.1 percent field goal percentage (25-for-52) of which six were from long range. IWU collected 11 of their misses while limiting the Foresters to just two offensive boards.

Goodline paced HU with 21 points and four assists. Sparks posted 17 points and a team-best five rebounds. Jordan and Ben Humrichous tossed in 14 and 12 points respectively. Jordan also collected four stuffs.

Seth Maxwell poured in a game-high 23 points for IWU. Noah Smith finished with 21. Spencer Piercefield put up 14 points while Griffin Kliewer registered the game’s only double double with 13 points and ten rebounds.

The Foresters (12-4, 4-2) hit the road again on Saturday to take on Bethel at 3:00 p.m.