MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Forester men’s basketball team picked up their third league win in ten days by topping Taylor, 74-63, Wednesday night at Platt Arena. With this victory, HU improves to 12-5 overall, 5-4 in league play.

HU has beaten the Trojans (8-8, 2-6) five out of the last six times these two teams have faced each other.

Defense was the Foresters’ bread and butter. For the sixth time this season, HU held an opponent to under 70 points. The Trojans managed just 35.9 percent (23-for-64) from the field which included shooting 22.2 percent from deep (8-for-36).

“I thought tonight was one of our best all-around defensive efforts,” noted Coach Kory Alford. “We forced tough shots all night and did a really good job defending their offensive actions.

At the other end of the floor, six Foresters accounted for all of HU’s scoring with Peyton West’18 points leading the way. He also corralled a game-best eight rebounds. Caleb Middlesworth registered 15 points. Zach Goodline added 11 points and narrowly missed a triple double with nine assists and eight rebounds.

Mitchell Wilson came off the bench to contribute 11 points, Hank Pulver posted ten points while Ben Humrichous finished with nine.

“We had balanced scoring tonight and despite a few too many turnovers, I was really happy with our execution,” said Alford.

HU committed 14 TOs to Taylor’s 12.

The moments were few and far between that the Foresters didn’t own a lead. The Trojans held a one-point advantage for a possession early in the game and then forced a tie shortly after for a half that Huntington otherwise took charge of. Alford’s crew built their first double-digit advantage, 29-19, just before intermission before settling for a seven-point halftime cushion of 29-22.

The Trojans came out of the locker room with a vengeance by piecing together an 18-7 run to spring on top 40-36 by the 15-minute mark. The Foresters countered by rattling off the next eight points, which included back-to-back triples by West, to re-establish the lead at 44-40.

By the 7:50 mark, HU’s advantage had ballooned back to double figures where it stayed for all but a few possessions the rest of the way. It’s Huntington’s seventh win of the year by at least ten points.

Jason Hubbard led Taylor with 22 points. CJ Penha recorded 15 as the Trojans only other double-digit scorer.

The Foresters clash with the Trojans again on Saturday at Platt Arena. Tip-off is slated for 1:00 p.m.