MEN’S BASKETBALL

The #18 Forester men’s basketball team wrapped up the regular season with a 95-72 decision over Goshen. The win sends HU into the Crossroads League tourney riding a nine-game win streak and a 22-6 overall record which includes a 14-4 league record.

The top eight seeds compete for a conference tournament championship so today’s outcome had no bearing on the Maple Leafs’ final standings as they entered the contest in last, five games out of eighth.

The win, on the other hand, had huge ramifications for HU considering Mount Vernon’s 80-75 upset over IWU. HU and IWU finished with identical CL records to tie for second with the Wildcats getting the two-seed nod based on their sweep of Bethel. The last time Huntington enjoyed a second-place finish in regular season standings was in 2014 when the program went 13-5 in conference play.

While Huntington led from start to finish at Gunden Gymnasium this afternoon, it wasn’t until after the break that the visitors finally pulled away from the pesky Maple Leafs. HU darted out to an early lead with every starter scoring within the first four minutes on the way to connecting on six of their first seven shots for a 14-5 advantage. The visitors continue their hot hand to build a 28-12 lead by the halfway point of the frame.

It had all the makings of blowout until Goshen drained four triples over the next five minutes to chop the lead to seven at 34-27. The seven-point difference looked like it would stand heading into intermission but a long ball by Hank Pulver at the buzzer sent Alford and crew into the locker room with a double-digit lead of 51-41.

Goshen bounced back to rattle off the first seven points of the second half to make for a three-point game of 51-48 with 17:33 to go. It was as close as the Maple Leafs had been since the first three minutes of the contest. A timeout by Alford got his squad back on track as the response was an and one and pair of freebies from Lane Sparks that ignited a  9-0 run.

Things were on the up and up for Huntington after that as their lead never dipped to single digits again. With four minutes to go, the difference ballooned to 20 and never dipped below that the rest of the day. It’s HU’s tenth 20+ point win.

Alford’s starters accounted for 83 of his team’s 95 points behind 23 from Zach Goodline. He also posted six assists, four steals and four rebounds. The other four’s scoring included Sparks with 20, Hank Pulver with 15, Landen Jordan with 13 and Ben Humrichous with 12. Jordan grabbed a team-best nine rebounds to just miss the double double.

Kaden Johnson scored 17 of his 19 points in the opening 20 minutes to top Goshen. He led the hosts in rebounding too with ten boards. Judah Simfukwe added 16 points while Elias Ramirez and Jo Kynard tossed in ten points apiece.

As the third seed, the Foresters will host sixth-seeded Mount Vernon on Wednesday in quarterfinal action of the CL tourney.