MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Huntington men’s basketball team snuck out of the McDonald Athletic Center with an 80-76 win over Spring Arbor Saturday afternoon. The victory is the seventh straight over the Cougars which includes a 17-point win last month.

With the regular season quickly coming to a close, the Foresters remain in control of their own destiny as they move to 18-8 overall which includes an 11-5 CL record. With two games remaining, Alford and crew are sitting in third with no one able to catch them if they win out.

The first half was an all-out battle as the two teams matched each other blow for blow more often than not. The two teams traded the lead throughout the opening 20 minutes before the hosts headed into the locker room up by three at 40-37.

SAU scored the first five points of the second period to enjoy what proved the largest disparity of the afternoon at 45-37. Spring Arbor remained on top until the Foresters finally strung together seven straight points compliments of the Goodline brothers midway through the frame for the first lead swap of the second half at 57-55 with 9:33 to go.

Five ties, two lead changes and four minutes later, Lane Sparks knocked down a pair of freebies to put his team on top for good at 65-64 with just over five minutes remaining. His free tosses were the start of a 9-2 spurt that gave Huntington their biggest advantage of the day at 72-65 with 2:33 on the clock.

SAU wasn’t about to go down without a fight. With :13 ticks remaining, they had finally whittled the lead to just two but Sparks calmly sank two more free throws for a four-point difference. At the other end of the floor, Gabe Newhof, the league’s leading scorer, was fouled with five seconds to go on a putback but couldn’t complete the and one.

Landen Jordan secured the missed free throw and was promptly fouled sending him to the charity stripe. The 6-9 big man got the friendly roll on his first shot and then found the bottom of the net on his second attempt to put the game out of reach.

Sparks erupted for 30 points to top all scorers. Zach Goodline tossed in 23 and handed out five assists. Landen Jordan rounded out HU’s double digit scoring with ten in addition to pulling down eight boards.

Spring Arbor (13-13, 6-10) landed two players in double figures with Newhof and Kevyn Robertson pouring in 23 and 22 points respectively.

The Foresters host Taylor on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.