Sports News

MEN’S BASKETBALL

The HU men’s basketball team was in the thick of things with #21 Saint Francis (17-5, 6-4) but could never quite get over the hump to come up short 99-86 to the visiting Cougars Saturday afternoon at Platt Arena.

While the Foresters never enjoyed a lead, they also never let USF stray too far in front throughout the 40 minutes. It was a bit of déjà vu at the end of each half. Trailing by 14 at 41-27 with five minutes left in the opening period, Platt and crew reeled off ten straight points in a 90-second span to close to within 41-36. The spurt was fueled by a pair of old fashioned three-point plays by Peyton West. What was shaping up to be a slim USF halftime lead turned into a ten-point spread, 50-40, by intermission thanks to a Cougar run in the final minute.

Fast forward to the final three minutes of the game when HU found themselves in another double-digit hole, this time at 89-77. Konner Platt and Caleb Middlesworth each drained a long ball on back-to-back possessions to trim the difference to two possessions at 89-83 with 1:58 remaining.

It had all the makings of a contest that would come down to the wire but once again the visitors had other plans. Aside from Middlesworth’s three in the waning seconds, USF held HU scoreless the rest of the way. At the other end of the court, they made good on their final five possessions to pull away for a final score that didn’t necessarily reflect how close the game really was. Six of the Cougars’ final ten points came at the charity stripe.

Both teams had solid shooting days. USF knocked down 51.5 percent of their attempts which included going 16-for-32 from deep while HU finished 31-for-65 for 47.7 percent from the field. The Foresters canned 11 treys at a clip of 42.3 percent. The contest only saw 16 turnovers with the Cougars making seven blunders to Huntington’s nine.

Five Foresters posted double digits with Middlesworth netting 30 points. Today marked the second straight game and third time this year the 6-8 forward has put up 30+ points. West finished with 15 points and five assists. Spencer Ballinger tossed in 12. Platt added ten points, a game-best seven rebounds and three assists. Andrew Yoder also collected ten points on the day.

Antwaan Cushingberry led the Cougars with 22 points and a game-high seven assists. Other contributions for USF came by way of Jalan Mull with 20, Tyler Smith with 15, Austin Compton with 13 and Connor Lautzenheiser with 12.

The Foresters (10-12, 2-8) hit the road on Tuesday to face #RV Spring Arbor at 7:00 p.m.