MEN’S BASKETBALL

Saturday’s first Crossroads League battle of 2024 saw the HU men’s basketball team escape Ariel Arena with a 95-90 win over Mount Vernon. Both teams entered the day on win streaks with Huntington extending theirs to six while snapping the Cougars eight-game ride.

The win is also the Foresters’ fourth consecutive over MVNU.

Alford’s starters handled the lion’s share of scoring by accounting for all but four of HU’s 95 points. Zach Goodline topped the guests with 27 to go along with handing out five dimes and swiping four steals. Lane Sparks tossed in 24 points in addition to corralling a team-best six rebounds and collecting four assists and three steals.

Jackson Paul had a banner day by chipping in a career-best 20 points having gone 7-for-11 from the field and 4-for-5 from the line. Rounding out Huntington’s double-digit scoring was Drew Goodline and Landen Jordan who each finished with ten.

The first half saw HU sneak into the locker room with a slim 54-52 advantage after eight ties and three lead changes. The Cougars came out firing on all cylinders to start the second frame with six straight points for a 58-54 lead.

Based on the ebb and flow of the game up to that point, no one in Ariel Arena would have anticipated what happened next as Huntington went off for 15 straight points in four minutes to enjoy the largest discrepancy of the night at 69-58.

While MVNU (12-2, 2-2) scratched and clawed their way back in it, the run was too much to overcome as Huntington never gave up the lead after that and then hit four free throws in the final minute to secure a highly coveted CL road win.

HU (9-5, 2-2) is back in the friendly confines of Platt Arena on Saturday to host Marian at 3:00 p.m.