MEN’S BASKETBALL

The #RV HU men’s basketball team upped their win streak to four with an 88-74 win over Bethel Saturday afternoon at Platt Arena. The win avenges Huntington’s six-point loss to the Pilots just a few weeks back. Over Alford’s three-year tenure, his squad is 4-2 against BU.

After trading the lead a few times to start things off, HU finally put an end to the swapping back and forth four minutes in by taking over a permanent lead of 8-6. It was the start of a 13-3 run fueled by Zach Goodline and Ben Humrichous who combined for all but two of their team’s points during the spurt.

Humrichous ended up being a key factor to HU’s first half success. He spread Bethel’s defense thin by knocking down four triples in the opening 20 minutes. He finished with 15 first-half points to send his team into the locker room up 42-31.

While the Pilots are quick to put points on the board as proven by scoring five points right off the bat to start the second half to make for a 42-36 ball game, the Foresters made sure that was a one and done burst. Four minutes later, Landen Jordan’s dunk put HU up by 15 at 54-39.

The next ten minutes came and went with HU able to extend the lead to 20 on a Goodline freebie, compliments of a Bethel technical for flopping, for a 79-59 difference with four minutes remaining. The Pilots made up six points by game’s end to make for the hosts’ 14-point win.

It was a physical battle with each team shooting 26 free throws. While points at the line were pretty much a wash, Huntington shot ten percent better than their visitors, 48.3 percent to 37.5 percent, and canned five more field goals, two of which were from deep.

Lane Sparks poured in a team-best 23 points. Humrichous added 20 points to go along with six boards, four blocks and two steals. Goodline also tossed in 20 points in addition to grabbing a team-best nine rebounds. Jackson Paul came off the bench to offer eight points.

Drew Lutz led all scorer with 27 points. Chikara Tanaka and Tanguy Touze added 11 and ten points respectively. Brandon Hunt chipped in nine points and corralled a game-best 12 rebounds.

Grace’s win over IWU this afternoon heats up the race to the finish as those two teams are now tied for first while Huntington (17-6) is just one game back. With five regular reason game remaining, HU’s Crossroads League record stands at 9-4. Next up is a trip to Taylor on Wednesday.