MEN’S BASKETBALL

With postseason positioning on the line, No. 19 Huntington delivered a statement Saturday afternoon at the PE Center, pulling away for an 82-67 win over Marian University in the regular season finale.

The opening ten minutes were a back-and-forth battle featuring eight lead changes and five ties. The Knights (5-23, 2-16) were playing their final game of the year with nothing to lose, while the Foresters (21-7, 12-6) were intent on bouncing back from a tough loss and securing tourney positioning.

It was Huntington’s hot hand from deep that broke things open.

Miles Good’s four-point play at the 13:11 mark knotted the score at 10-10 and ignited a three-point barrage. At one stretch, Coach Jauch’s crew connected on 7-of-9 from beyond the arc. Landon Biegel’s triple with three minutes left in the half, HU’s seventh of the period, pushed the lead to 47-31 and gave the Foresters full control.

Huntington entered the locker room up 47-33, and the margin never dipped into single digits the rest of the way. The Foresters stretched their advantage to 21 with 13 minutes remaining. When Marian trimmed the deficit to 70-57 with seven minutes to play, HU answered emphatically. Layups by Kaden Johnson and Matthew Spears sandwiched Biegel’s second three of the afternoon in a decisive 7-0 burst that restored a 20-point cushion.

Huntington shot a sizzling 50.9 percent (28-of-55) from the floor and 40.0 percent (10-of-25) from long range while knocking down 16-of-21 (76.2 percent) at the stripe. The Foresters assisted on 17 buckets, outrebounded the Knights 38-28 and committed just eight turnovers.

Johnson led the way with 22 points and 15 rebounds for a dominant double-double. Good stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Jackson Paul added 11 points and three assists, while Cade Brenner chipped in 10. Spears scored eight off the bench, and Biegel’s pair of timely triples accounted for six points during HU’s key runs.

Marian shot 44.3 percent (27-of-61) and was led by Aaron Humphrey Jr.’s 19 points and eight rebounds. Ron Rutland III added 12 points, while Joshua Renfro contributed 11 off the bench.

With the win – coupled with Bethel’s loss to Indiana Wesleyan – Huntington finishes tied for third in the Crossroads League standings. The Foresters earned the No. 3 seed via tiebreaker, owning a 1-1 mark against second-seeded Indiana Wesleyan while the Pilots went 0-2.

Postseason play begins Wednesday as Huntington hosts sixth-seeded Mount Vernon Nazarene University in first-round action at Platt Arena with tip-off at 7:00 p.m.