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Senior Hank Pulver achieved a significant milestone Saturday afternoon in Huntington’s 75-70 upset on the road over #6 Grace (18-3, 8-3). In addition to helping guide his team to one of the biggest wins of their season, the 6-8 forward also became  the 52nd Forester to join HU’s 1,000 point club.

Pulver entered the contest needing just eight points to join this elite group and his bucket down low with 2:34 remaining proved points seven and eight and upped Huntington’s lead to 69-65. It was HU’s last field goal of the day as their final six points came by way of the charity stripe.

While five points separated the two squads, there was still plenty of game to be played in front of a packed Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center. Grace scored the next four points within a 45-second span to make it blatantly clear they weren’t calling it quits.

Both teams came up empty on their next possession after which Zach Goodline went to line after drawing a foul with just over :30 second to go. The Forester floor general hit both freebies for a three-point difference of 71-68. Grace scored once more to pull within one but time was of the essence after that as they were forced to foul Goodline again.

He calmly sank two more free throws with :19 ticks on the clock and then Lane Sparks put the finishing touches on the big win by securing a Lancer miss from deep. While Grace fans wanted a jump ball, Sparks was fouled sending him to the line where he nailed both free tosses with a handful of seconds remaining to ensure the Forester win.

The pair accounted for all but 25 of their team’s 75 points. Goodline poured in a game-leading 28 points while Sparks added 22. Alford’s other three starters took care of the rest of the scoring. In addition to posting 12 points, Ben Humrichous also tracked down eight rebounds and handed out five dimes. Pulver finished with eight points and four boards. Landen Jordan rounded things out with five points.

Huntington led the entire second half with the largest gap coming on Jordan’s putback right out of intermission for a 47-34 advantage. Their permanent lead was six minutes prior on another putback, that one by Pulver, with just over five minutes remaining in the first frame. It made for a 30-28 ballgame and ignited a 17-6 run to close out the half for an 11-point disparity of 45-34 by the midway point.

Jakob Gibbs led Grace with 17 points and seven rebounds. Cade Gibbs tossed in 14 while Jake Wadding and Ian Scott came off the bench to add 12 and ten points respectively.

The win avenges the Lancers’ win over HU last week and evens up the regular season series. It also matches Huntington’s 81-74 W over then-ranked #6 Marian back in December. Huntington (15-6, 7-4) has another big test on Wednesday when they host #7 Indiana Wesleyan at 7:00 p.m.