GOSHEN, Ind. – The lead never changed hands Tuesday night at Gunden Gymnasium much to the dismay of the Goshen College men’s basketball team who suffered a 93-75 loss to the visiting Foresters of Huntington University.
Playing without its two leading scorers in Tyler Arens and Konner Platt, Huntington relied on its underclassmen to pick up the slack and they did not disappoint. Sophomore Zac Owens topped all scorers with 28 points, missing just three shots on the evening. He sizzled the nets by going 11-for-14 from the field to guide his team to its best shooting performance of the season.
As a team, HU drained 67.3 percent of their attempts by going 35-for-52 which included burying 11 of their 20 three-point attempts. In addition to shooting the ball so well, Platt’s crew limited their miscues to just ten. Over the last three contests, HU has averaged 6.7 turnovers per night.
Three rookies also shined for the Foresters not only in scoring but in controlling the glass as well. Peyton West poured in a career-best 21 points and enjoyed team-high rebounding honors with six. Spencer Ballinger also logged six boards in addition to posting a career-high 15 points in his first ever collegiate start. Caleb Middlesworth added another 19 points and picked up five caroms.
Eighteen points was the largest gap of the night and not only separated the two teams by game’s end, but was also the disparity at the 8:09 mark of the first half when West scored in the paint for a 36-18 difference.
The Maple Leafs didn’t let their visitors get too comfortable with the early lead as they spent the next six minutes whittling the advantage to six at 42-36 behind a pair of triples from Ben Cotton. HU responded immediately by way of West who cashed in on a traditional three-point play after which Middlesworth and Ballinger each scored down low to wrap up the period on a 7-2 run to head into intermission up 49-38.
Goshen came out with new energy to start the second half behind their playmaker Demarkus Stuckey. After scoring just five points in the opening twenty minutes, the league’s second leading scorer posted eight points in the first four minutes to rally his team back in it as only five points, 56-51, separated the two teams by the 16:10 mark.
There was no panic in the Foresters as they put points on the boards on their next four possessions while clamping down defensively for nine unanswered points and a 14-points cushion of 65-51 with just under 14 minutes to go. It was smooth sailing after that as their advantage never dipped below ten the rest of the way.
The win ups Huntington’s league record to 3-4 and their overall record to 13-6 while the loss leaves the Maple Leafs (6-13, 0-7) still looking for their first conference win.
Stuckey posted 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds to pace Goshen. Cotton scored twice more from downtown in the second half to finish with 12 points. Colton Noel also chipped in 12 points while Carter Boos added 11. Alhassan Barrie boasted game-high rebounding honors with ten, half of which were of the offensive variety.
HU returns to Platt Arena on Saturday to host #3 Indiana Wesleyan at 3:00 p.m.