MEN’S BASKETBALL

It was sweet revenge for #RV Indiana Wesleyan Saturday inside Luckey Arena. After suffering a 97-88 loss to the #18 Huntington men’s basketball team back in November, the Wildcats came out on top 83-76 this afternoon to kick off the second round of Crossroads League action.

The Wildcats (14-6, 4-6) relied on a late game run to pull off the upset. With only two points separating the two squads at 62-60 with five minutes remaining, IWU scored on ten of their last 11 possessions to extend their lead to as many as ten before settling for the seven-point win.

Prior to Wesleyan’s near-perfect ending, the game was up in the air with four ties and 14 lead changes on display throughout the first 35 minutes. The first half was a low-scoring affair with the Foresters taking a 35-34 advantage into the break. HU led by as many as seven in the first half while IWU’s largest lead was ten in the final few minutes.

The last ten outings between these two teams have favored Wesleyan 7-3. With today’s loss, Alford and crew drop to 15-5 overall which includes a 5-5 league record.

Three Foresters landed in double figures with Lane Sparks’ 23 points leading all scorers. Landen Jordan ended up with 14 points while Maximus Gizzi finished with 13. Kaden Johnson tossed in eight points and ripped down just as many boards to enjoy game-high rebounding honors.

Griffin Kliewer and Luke Brown each tossed in 21 points to pace the Wildcats. Additionally, Kliewer grabbed eight boards and handed out three assists. Caedmon Bontrager also had a big day for the hosts by netting 20 points to go along with six rebounds and three assists.

Huntington faces the only unbeaten team in CL action, #10 Bethel, Wednesday night with tip-off slated for 7:30 p.m. in Mishawaka.