MEN’S BASKETBALL

The HU men’s basketball team ran away from Great Lakes Christian 113-77 Saturday afternoon in their first game of 2021. Not only was it the Foresters’ largest margin of victory, it also proved the first time this season Alford’s crew eclipsed the century mark.

Junior Caleb Middlesworth scored 11 of Huntington’s first 14 points to spearhead a 20-6 run within the opening five minutes of play. The Foresters cooled off after that allowing the Crusaders (2-9) a glimmer of hope as they dwindled the lead down to eight at 28-20 by the 7:36 mark of the period.

It was HU’s only lull of the afternoon after which Middlesworth got his team back on track with back-to-back buckets. It was the beginning of another spurt where the Foresters outscored GLCC by 14 for a 22-point difference of 51-29 by intermission. Mitchell Wilson also played a critical role in the final first half push by dropping in a pair of threes on his way to piling up eight points in the final three minutes of the period.

With the game clearly in hand, the Foresters went on to outscore their visitors by 14 in the final 20 minutes to make for the skewed affair. While the first half saw the Foresters commit just two blunders, the second stanza showcased Huntington’s shooting prowess. Alford’s squad knocked down over 70 percent of their shots (24-for-34) which included sizzling the nets at a clip of 56.3 percent (9-for-16) from long range.

For the game, Huntington shot 57.9 percent from the field with 32 of their 44 field goals assisted. Having committed just 11 turnovers, their assist to turnover ratio was an impressive 2.90.

“I was really proud of our effort coming out of break,” said Coach Kory Alford. “We had a great week of practice and I’m glad it translated into how we played today.

“We’ve been emphasizing ball movement and taking care of the ball so to see that we had 32 assists and 11 turnovers is encouraging.”

Middlesworth topped all scorers with 23 points. Zach Goodline added 20 points and narrowly missed a triple double with his nine rebounds and eight assists. Hank Pulver posted 14 points and eight rebounds.

Mitchell Wilson finished with a career-best 15 points off the bench while Joel Dyer also came off the bench to toss in 11. Peyton West racked up 11 points to go along with six assists.

“I thought our guard play was really good,” noted Alford. “Zach and Peyton set the tone early and then our bench picked up where they left off.

“We had six guys in double figures which is a good sign of an unselfish team. This was a great finish to our non-conference schedule, and we’re excited to start a tough Crossroads League stretch this coming week.”

The Foresters (9-2) hit the road twice to play #20 Saint Francis on Wednesday and #10 Marian on Saturday.