MEN’S BASKETBALL

Playing in front of a home crowd, the Forester men’s basketball team got back on track Wednesday night by cruising to a 91-62 win over Spring Arbor (8-10, 2-6). The win snaps a two-game skid for HU as they improve to 13-5 overall, 5-3 in the league. Huntington holds a four-game win streak over SAU.

Alford and crew are currently third in the conference standings, three games behind top-seeded IWU and a game back from second-place Grace.

Tonight’s contest was the seventh time this season the Foresters have allowed 65 points or less and the seventh time this season they’ve registered a 20+ point win.

Only the first three minutes were in question as the lead toggled back and forth four times before Lane Sparks’ jumper gave HU a lasting lead of 7-6.  The 6-3 workhorse scored eight of his team’s first ten points after which Landen Jordan and Ben Humrichous went to work. The pair accounted for ten of Huntington’s next 12 points to stretch the lead to double figures at 22-12 by the 12:15 mark.

Mitchell Wilson was also a key contributor in the first half having scored all ten of his points in the opening twenty minutes to help guide the hosts to a 46-35 advantage by the midway point. The second period was more of the same as HU built a 20-point advantage of 68-48 halfway through the frame and then cushioned their lead by nine more before it was all said and done.

Joel Dyer was one of the key cogs in the second half by dropping in 11 points. He and Ben Humrichous each finished with three triples to lead an onslaught of scoring from beyond the arc. As a team, Huntington shot better from deep than from two-point land. They finished 14-for-26 from long range for 53.8 percent while posting an overall shooting percentage of 50.0 percent (32-for-64).

Wilson and Dyer were just two of six Foresters to hit double digits. Sparks recorded a team-leading 18 points, Zach Goodline went for 15 points and six assists, Humrichous netted 15 and Jordan tossed in ten. Humrichous and Jordan split team rebounding honors with seven each while Dyer and Sparks led the way in steals with four apiece.

Freshman Gabe Newhof had himself a night for the Cougars by logging 32 points, more than half his team’s points. He also grabbed ten boards for the double double. Austin Braun posted 11 points as the only other Cougar to finish in double figures.

The Forester have a critical matchup Saturday when they host Grace in a battle for the second spot in the league standings. Tip-off is slated for 3:00 p.m.