MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Huntington men’s basketball team came up just short in its first official outing of the year, falling 76-74 to Ohio Christian on Wednesday night at the Maxwell Center. The non-conference thriller marked HU’s first contest of the season after last week’s matchup with East-West was recorded as a forfeit win for the Foresters.

The rivalry, which dates back to 2014, didn’t disappoint. The two sides traded blows from opening tip, combining for nine threes in the first seven minutes. After HU opened with a pair of triples, the Trailblazers answered with six of their own — four courtesy of Parker Penrod — to build an 18-14 lead.

The Foresters responded in kind, stringing together a 12-0 run midway through the half to surge ahead 29-20, the game’s largest disparity of the evening. Cade Brenner fueled the spurt, accounting for six points during that stretch. OCU spent the rest of frame clawing back in it to close the gap to 38-35 by halftime.

The second half proved to be a back-and-forth affair with no more than two possessions ever separating the two squads. Not surprisingly, the outcome came down to the wire. With five seconds left, Kaden Johnson calmly sank two free throws to pull HU even at 74-74, but OCU’s Caleb Schmelzer raced coast-to-coast and finished at the buzzer to lift the hosts to victory. When all the dust settled, the game featured nine ties and seven lead changes.

Jackson Paul led Huntington with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. Johnson notched a double-double of 13 points and a game-high 12 boards, while Brenner came off the bench to add 12 points on a perfect 3-for-3 performance from deep. Kaylane Lasisi and Matthew Spears each contributed 10 points to round out HU’s balanced attack.

Penrod topped all scorers with 22 points, including 14 of OCU’s first 20. He was joined in double figures by Cale Rammel (18), DJ Bogay (17), and Schmelzer (12).

With the loss, the Foresters move to 1-1 on the season while OCU opens its campaign at 1-0. HU now turns its attention to the Crossroads League/GPAC Challenge on Friday at Grace College, where they’ll face Briar Cliff Friday at 8:00 p.m. before returning to Platt Arena on Saturday to host Morningside at 3:00 p.m.