MEN’S BASKETBALL

The 19th-ranked HU men’s basketball team handed the 7th-ranked Bethel Pilots their first conference loss of the year by way of a 92-82 decision Wednesday night at Gates Gymnasium. Not only did it break up Bethel’s perfect league record, it also proved BU’s first home loss of the season.

It’s Huntington’s second win of the year over a Top 10 opponent with their first dating back to November 20  when they picked off IWU, ranked 3rd at the time, by nine at 97-88.

The first half was the Top 20 showdown that both sides expected as it featured 12 lead changes and seven ties. With 1:18 left in the first frame, Drew Goodline’s old-fashioned three-point play that put HU up by three at 43-40 and in the driver’s seat the rest of the way.

The Foresters took a 48-42 advantage into the locker room thanks to Jackson Paul’s triple at the buzzer. Two minutes into the second half, a tip-in by Landen Jordan upped the lead to double figures for the first time at 55-44.

It was a slow six-minute burn for Bethel after that having battled back to within one at 66-65 but Goodline stepped up again to dash any hope of a Pilot comeback. This time draining a three in transition. His big bucket kicked off a 9-0 run that saw HU take advantage of a BU technical after a common foul.

The Foresters cashed in on all four free chances after which Lane Sparks nailed two more from the line to extend the lead back to double digits at 75-65 with a lot of basketball yet to be played. But over the final ten minutes, Huntington never let their hosts closer than seven points to cruise to the 10-point victory.

Both teams shot the ball well from the floor with Huntington going 34-for-56 for 60.7 percent while their counterparts finished 29-for-54 for 53.7 percent. While it was also a cleanly played game with the two squads combing for just nine turnovers, HU got the better end of the deal by turning Bethel’s six TOs into 12 points while the Pilots only scored four points off three Huntington blunders.

Lane Sparks, the league’s leading scorer, lived up to that billing with a game-best 27 points by going an efficient 9-for-16 from the field. He also corralled four rebounds and handed out three assists.

Landen Jordan was even more efficient offensively having missed just one of his eight shots on his way to pouring in 18 points. He also garnered game-high rebounding honors with eight. Goodline tossed in 17 while Paul netted 13 on 6-for-7 shooting and handed out six dimes.

Preston Phillips topped five Pilots in double figures with 19 points. Trent Edwards added 16 points, Luke McBride finished with 15 while Austin Cripe and Ike Umeh registered 11 and ten points respectively off the bench.

Since the 2021-22 season, these two squads have split the regular season with Bethel getting the best of HU 96-90 in first round action this year.  With tonight’s win, HU moves to 16-5 on the year, 6-5 in league play, while the Pilots drop to 17-4 overall which includes a 10-1 CL record.

Huntington returns home on Saturday to host #RV Saint Francis at 3:00 p.m.