MEN’S BASKETBALL

Huntington backcourt duo Maximus Gizzi and Lane Sparks are two of the best in the league at their craft as announced by the Crossroads League earlier today.

For the third consecutive season, Sparks garnered First Team All-League praises. A scorer by trade, he currently tops the league in scoring at 22.7 points per game. He also posts 5.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals every night.

To date, Sparks has racked up 2,244 career points to sit fifth on HU’s all-time scoring list.

Considered the league’s biggest menace defensively, Gizzi was tabbed the Crossroads League Defender of the Year. While there’s often nothing to show for it on paper, one only has to watch him play once to understand why he was the easy pick as the best defender in the league.

Additionally, the hard-nosed grad transfer from Marian was voted to the All-Defensive Team and also earned a spot on the Honorable Mention All-League Team. Gizzi tosses in 10.9 points per game while handing out a team-leading 3.7 assists to go along with collecting 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals.

His free throw percentage of 89.0 (65-for-73) is second best in the league while he also boasts the third best assist/TO ratio at 3.5 while ranking tenth in assists per game.

Senior Landen Jordan turned heads all season to receive his second consecutive Second Team All-League designation. His ability to dominate the paint is well-documented. In addition to pouring in 14.3 points per night, he also averages 7.0 boards and 1.2 blocked shots.

The 6-9 big man is shooting 66.3 percent from the field (173-for-261), the second highest percentage in the Crossroads League, and currently sits fourth among his league peers in blocks and fifth in rebounding.

Rounding out the list of Forester honorees is senior Drew Goodline who earned a Second Team shoutout. The 6-2 guard does a little bit of everything for Alford’s crew as evidenced by posting 12.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and a team-leading 1.4 steals per night. As HU’s main three-pointer shooter, he drops in 2.5 treys per game which proves the second highest average in the CL. He also claims the fifth spot in steals among his CL opponents.

For the fourth straight year, the Foresters (24-7) will have a seat at the NAIA National Tournament. Alford and crew will find out Thursday who they will play on March 14 in the opening round.