MEN’S BASKETBALL

The HU men’s basketball team chopped down the #1 Lancers of Grace College in convincing fashion, 99-79, Wednesday night in front of a packed Platt Arena.

Grace (24-1, 14-1) entered the contest as the only undefeated men’s college basketball team in the nation across all divisions, but that title was stripped by Alford’s crew who was honed in all night on both sides of the ball.

Defensively, the Foresters limited a Lancer offense ranked third nationally well below their season average of 91.4 points per night. It’s just the fourth time this season Grace has scored less than 80 points. The visitors’ biggest struggle offensively was beyond the arc where they went 1-for-19.

Grace’s downfall was Huntington’s bread and butter. Alford’s squad was red hot from deep, connecting on 14 of their 23 three-point attempts for an impressive 60.9 percent. Zach Goodline put on a show. The 6-1 guard drained eight triples but when he wasn’t busy knocking down a three, he was finding other ways to put the ball in the hole or finding an open teammate.

Goodline finished with a career-best 39 points in addition to dishing out seven dimes. His backcourt companion, Lane Sparks, added 19 points. Landen Jordan tossed in ten to go along with grabbing five rebounds. The unsung hero was Romain Bruwier who came off the bench to go a perfect 5-for-5 from the field for ten points in 20 minutes of action.

The first ten minutes was nip and tuck with a 23-23 tie to prove it. But a four-minute span changed everything. While the Lancers managed just two points, the Foresters went off for 17 which included a trio of Goodline threes. It made for a 40-25 difference with 4:29 left in the first half.

HU headed into intermission up 51-35 and while Grace came out of the locker room to score seven of the period’s first ten points to close to within 12 at 54-42, the hosts weren’t fazed. It was back-to-back steals at midcourt by Bruwier and Goodline that slammed the door shut on any hopes the Lancers had of a heroic comeback as the pick sixes made for a 63-44 ballgame with 15 minutes remaining. The lead was never challenged after that.

Elijah Malone poured in 22 points off the bench for Grace. Ian Scott added 17 and collected a game-best nine rebounds.

It’s GC’s worst loss since February of 2021 when they suffered a 108-81 loss to IWU who was ranked #1 at the time. Alford’s all-time record against the Lancers stands at 5-4. The rivalry between these two programs is well documented, dating back to 1958 with HU holding a slight 73-71 advantage over Grace.

With three regular season games remaining, Huntington (17-8) is sitting alone at the No. 3 spot in the CL standings with a 10-5 record. Next up for the Foresters is a trip to Spring Arbor on Saturday with tip-off slated for 3:00 p.m.