MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Forester men’s basketball team (1-0) kicked off its season with an 83-68 road win over Concordia University (Mich.) Saturday afternoon at Cardinal Field House.

HU’s five starters made up the offense by accounting for all 83 points. Nick Macon, a senior transfer, and Konner Platt each posted 19 points to top all scorers. Tyler Arens and Caleb Middlesworth added 17 points apiece while Zac Owens tossed in 11.

As a team, the Foresters shot 52.9 percent (27-for-51) from the field which included 11 threes and were a perfect 18-for-18 from the line.

Platt’s crew missed just one shot in the opening four minutes to skirt in front 15-5. Owens’ long ball at the 13:39 mark extended that lead to 14 at 21-7 for what proved the largest advantage of the half before the visitors settled for a seven-point difference of 45-38 by intermission.

A Cardinal run of 14-5 to start the second period resulted in CU’s first and only lead of the day at 52-50 by the 14:33 mark but it was Middlesworth to the rescue. The rookie played anything like a freshman by draining a triple from the corner, knocking down two freebies and then scoring on a fast break for seven straight points to put his team back on top.

Concordia would go on to knot things up at 60-60 with eight minutes remaining but Platt’s third and final trey of the afternoon gave Huntington the lasting lead. The Foresters would go on to pull away by way of the charity stripe where they collected 12 points in the final six minutes to end with their largest lead of the day.

HU limited the Cardinals to just 36.5 percent shooting from the floor (23-for-63). Dakota Bostic posted 16 points to lead CU. Other double digit scorers for Concordia included Emmanuel Dominguez with 14, Paul Zysk with 11 and Jerald Booker with 11.

Huntington also out-rebounded their hosts 35-30 behind Arens’ eight boards. The 6-8 big man also finished with a game-best three blocks and game-tying three steals.

Overall, Coach Platt liked what he saw today. “This was a solid road win for us. Balanced scoring from our starters, improvements in our defense and going 18-18 in the second half from the foul line were some of the bright spots.

“We had too many turnovers and gave up too many offensive rebounds (11) but we had a lot of new guys getting their first experience in either a college game or a Forester uniform. We will continue to work on our mistakes and look forward to our two home games this week.”

The Foresters’ home opener is Tuesday when they host Wright State Lake at 7:00 p.m. They will follow that up with another game in Platt Arena on Saturday against Saint Xavier at 3:00 p.m.