MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Huntington men’s basketball team notched a convincing 102-61 win over Calumet College of St. Joseph on opening day of their season Saturday afternoon at Platt Arena. The two squads have met up five times since 2005 with HU prevailing each time.

The Foresters canned their first three shots for a 7-0 lead before 90 seconds had even ticked off the clock. It set the tone of what was to come as evidenced by hitting the century mark by game’s end.

HU’s offensive rampage included knocking down 14 triples at a clip of 50.0 percentage. Overall Alford’s crew finished 52.1 percent from the field (37-for-71) and 73.7 percent from the line (14-for-19). Lane Sparks led the charge with 22 points. Zach Goodline tossed in 19 and handed out seven dimes. Mitchell Wilson came off the bench to also rack up 19 points.

Landen Jordan chipped in 12 points which included four dunks. He also ripped down nine rebounds of which three were on the offensive glass. Ben Humrichous rounded out Huntington’s double-digit scoring with 11 points. The 6-8 junior also tracked down ten boards to log the game’s only double double.

In addition to shooting the ball well, Huntington’s success was also connected to their defense which forced 16 turnovers to the tune of 26 points.

A 14-2 HU run to close out the first period which included Joel Dyer’s half court heave at the buzzer made for a 57-30 halftime score. It was more of the same in the final 20 minutes as Huntington continued to distance themselves from CCSJ on the way to their 41-point victory on an afternoon that saw all 15 Foresters get some PT.

The Crimson Wave was led by Reggie Loury and Shamond Garrett who finished with 13 and 12 points respectively.

Next up for the Foresters (1-0) is an exhibition game against the University of Evansville on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.