MEN’S BASKETBALL

The 16th-ranked Cougars of Spring Arbor University relied on a solid first half to push past the visiting Forester men’s basketball team, 78-65, Saturday afternoon. The win is SAU’s seventh consecutive as they improve to 16-2 overall, 4-2 in league play while HU drops to 6-12 overall, 2-4 in CL action.

It was an 11-2 run late in the opening frame that extended Spring Arbor’s advantage to double digits, a discrepancy they would hold on to for most of the rest of the game. The run started around the seven-minute mark and was capped off with a Ben Geschke triple at the 3:14 mark for a 36-22 SAU lead.

The Cougars would go on to take a 41-31 lead into intermission. Behind six points from Tyler Arens, the Foresters came out of the locker room with a bang that resulted in the lead being erased to just two possessions, 45-39, three minutes into the period. Two minutes later, however, the advantage was back to ten.

Arens dropped in his second long ball of the frame to cut the lead one final time to single digits at 52-43 with just over 13 minutes to go before Zach Medendorp completed an and one to extend the lead to twelve.

The Cougars’ advantage ballooned to as many as 21 by the 2:25 mark before the Foresters outscored their hosts by eight the rest of the way, behind four points apiece from Jaden Sutton and Zac Owens, to settle for the 13-point difference.

Arens finished with a team-best 16 points. Konner Platt added 12 points and three assists while Trevor Lockwood tossed in nine points and corralled a team-best six rebounds.

Paul Marandet enjoyed game high points and assists with 24 and nine respectively. Medendorp finished with 12 points. Jeff Beckman claimed a game-best 13 rebounds, five of the offensive variety, to go along with eight points.

Platt’s crew shot 41.1 percent from the field (23-for-56) which included six from downtown while committing just eight turnovers. SAU was even more efficient offensively by posting a 48.5 shooting percent (32-for-66) while coughing up the ball just four times.

The Foresters’ next stop is Hutzell Athletic Center on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off against #2 Saint Francis.