HU HITS CENTURY MARK IN UPSET OVER #5 IWU
by Lori Culler
MARION, Ind. – The Huntington men’s basketball team notched another upset Tuesday night with a 100-90 win over #5 Indiana Wesleyan in Luckey Arena. HU has gone three-for-three in wins over ranked opponents since picking off No. 9 Grace on January 15.
Tonight’s W comes on the heels of knocking off #16 Saint Francis on Saturday. The victory is HU’s first at IWU since February of 2013 and snaps a ten-game win streak the Wildcats held over Huntington.
“This was a tremendous road win over a very good Indiana Wesleyan team,” said Coach Kory Alford. “I was especially pleased with our toughness and composure tonight. Our guys stayed together and trusted in each other throughout the entire game.”
The ten-point spread at the final buzzer wasn’t necessarily indicative of how close the game really was as no more than two possessions separated the two teams up until the final 90 seconds of play. The Crossroads League clash featured ten ties and 16 lead changes.
As both teams jockeyed for an edge, a case could be made that Zach Goodline’s transition layup with 4:32 remaining swung the pendulum in HU’s favor. The 6-1 playmaker chased down a long rebound from an IWU missed dunk to give his team a permanent advantage of 84-83.
Peyton West scored 30 seconds later on another transition bucket, snuck into the lane for a putback shortly after and then swiped a steal and found Lane Sparks for another basket in transition to wrap up an 8-1 run for a 90-85 lead ignited by Goodline’s layup two minutes prior.
The Wildcats scored on a baseline jumper on their next possession, but everything went Huntington’s way after that. The visitors closed out the final two minutes with a 10-3 spurt that included layups by Goodline and Lane Sparks after which Alford’s crew tallied six points from the charity stripe.
Scoring came easy for the Foresters against an IWU squad that entered the contest allowing just 72 points per game. It marks the most points the hosts have given up this season and the second time this year HU has hit the century mark.
The Foresters finished 36-for-65 from the field for 55.4 percent which included knocking down eight triples at a clip of 47.1 percent. The guests were also near perfect from the line where they canned 20 of their 24 attempts for 83.3 percent.
Alford’s starting crew accounted for all but 11 of HU’s points with Goodline dropping 26. Sparks chipped in 20 points. Ben Humrichous spent most of his time at the line where he went 12-for-12 on his way to 18 points. He also tracked down seven boards.
“Zach was incredible for us,” said Alford. “He hit big shots and kept our team locked in for forty minutes.
“I thought Ben and Lane both had great performances, especially for young guards on the road against a top-five opponent. Lane provided key buckets throughout the game and for Ben to have 18 points without making a three shows great growth.”
Of his veteran guard, Alford was extremely pleased with West’s play. “I thought it was one of Peyton’s best games of his career. He was active on both ends of the floor.”
The 6-1 senior filled the stat sheet with 14 points, ten rebounds and six assists.
Rounding out HU’s scoring was Caleb Middlesworth who added 11 points which included draining a pair of long balls midway through the second frame while Spencer Ballinger also tossed in 11 points.
“Caleb did a great job as our senior leader,” noted Alford. “He was an active voice in every huddle, made big shots and was locked in defensively. Spencer provided crucial minutes off the bench. He was efficient and played tough defensively.”
Seth Maxwell paced IWU with 23 points. Michael Thompson finished with 20 while Dan Largey and Spencer Piercefield netted 17 and 11 points respectively.
With this loss, the Wildcats, who entered the night with a CL record of 23-straight regular season conference wins, drop to 23-4 overall, 14-1 in league play. Tonight is their first regular season loss at home in three years.
The win bumps the Foresters to 19-8 overall which includes an 8-7 league record. HU returns to Platt Arena on Saturday to host #24 Marian at 3:00 p.m.