MEN’S BASKETBALL

It came down to the wire with #6 Grace (17-2, 7-2) knocking down freebies in the final minute to pull away from the #RV Huntington men’s basketball team in a 93-82 battle Saturday afternoon in front of a packed Platt Arena.

The Lancer victory snapped a two-game win streak the Foresters had enjoyed over their guests.

The two teams took turns on top to the tune of 13 lead changes and seven ties. HU’s largest lead came halfway through the first period on Ben Humrichous’ jumper that put his team up 27-21. Grace rallied back to eventually match that lead, 42-36, just inside a minute before halftime but there was still plenty of action to be had before intermission.

Back-to-back threes by Lane Sparks and Humrichous sandwiched a Grace turnover to knot things up at 42s before Ian Scott slammed one down at the buzzer to send GC into the locker room with a 44-42 lead.

Within the first minute of the second frame, three different Foresters found their way to the line where they combined to go 4-for-6 for another lead swap favoring HU 46-44. By the 17:07 mark Huntington’s lead was back to six at 50-44.

The hosts clung to an advantage for all but 30 seconds over the next six minutes, but their reign came to an end with 11 minutes to go when the Lancers took over permanently at 64-62. Three minutes later it was 75-64. It was the first time up to that point that double digits separated the two squads and came on the tail end of an 18-2 run that had originated at the 12:30 mark.

As fans have come to expect, Alford’s crew responded by battling back to pull within three at 79-76 on a pair of Zach Goodline freebies with five minutes remaining. Unfortunately, it would get no closer as four points separated the teams with just over a minute to go after which the Lancers went 9-for-10 from the charity stripe to secure the win.

Sparks and Goodline poured in 30 and 24 points respectively to handle the lion’s share of HU’s scoring. Sparks also snatched five steals and tracked down five rebounds. Landen Jordan and Hank Pulver tossed in nine points each while Humrichous finished with eight points and a team-high nine boards.

Grace relied on a balanced scoring attack with Jakob Gibbs and Carter Stoltzfus tossing in 15 each while four other Lancers landed in double digits including Elijah Malone with 14, Frankie Davidson with 13 and Ian Scott with 12.

Huntington outscored their visitors 24-12 from deep but Grace more than made up for that disparity by going 29-for-35 from the line to HU’s 10-for-14 performance at the stripe. The Lancers also leaned on their bench more heavily where they got 45 points to Huntington’s two.

With the first round of league play in the books, HU (13-6) is currently in a three-way tie for third with a 5-4 CL record. Next up is a trip to Spring Arbor on Wednesday.