MEN’S BASKETBALL

Up against one of the nation’s best, the Huntington men’s basketball team suffered its worst loss of the year, a 105-69 decision, to the #3 Wildcats of Indiana Wesleyan (17-3, 6-2).

IWU turned in one of its best performances of the year by surpassing the century mark for the fourth time this season. The Wildcats have one of the top offenses in the nation and put that on display Saturday afternoon in Platt Arena. They sizzled the nets at a clip of 60.9 percent which included going 13-for-32 from downtown.

The visitors entered the day tossing in just over 90 points per outing. Nationally speaking, they also brought the 2nd best 3-point field goal percentage (.433) as well as the 3rd best field goal percentage (.534) into the contest.

While four Foresters landed in double figure by game’s end, they couldn’t match IWU’s firepower from opening tip. The Wildcats scored on nine of their first ten possessions to skirt ahead 21-7 by the 14:35 mark. There was no looking back as their lead ballooned to 24, 59-35, by halftime.

It was more of the same in the second period to make for the lopsided affair. Grant Smith made history by claiming the program’s first ever triple double in at least 15 season. He finished with ten points, 13 rebounds and ten assists. Kyle Mangas, the league’s leading scorer, poured in 24 points. Evan Maxwell tossed in 20. Canaan Coffey added 15 points while Isaiah Payton came off the bench to throw in 11.

Zac Owens topped Huntington with 14 points. Caleb Middlesworth recorded 13 while Konner Platt and Wyatt Hughes tallied 11 and ten points respectively.

HU’s record now stands at 13-7 overall, 3-5 in league play. Platt’s crew will look to bounce back on Tuesday when they face #13 Marian for the second time this season. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. at the Knights’ PE Center.