MEN’S BASKETBALL

The HU men’s basketball team wrapped up their time in Arizona by trouncing Montana State-Northern 83-56 Monday night as part of the Cactus Classic. The Foresters have racked up four consecutive wins to move to 7-5 on the year.

Huntington limited the Lights to 28 points each half having given up just 21 field goals for the game. It’s the third time this season HU has held an opponent to under 60 points. With tonight’s loss, MSU-Northern drops to 7-5 which includes going 0-3 at the Cactus Classic.

While the first ten minutes were nothing to write home about, HU changed all that by stepping up defensively. Over the next five minutes, Alford and crew held the Lights scoreless which allowed them to turn their 22-18 deficit into a 31-22 advantage. That 13-0 run set the tone for the rest of the contest.

By halftime, Huntington’s lead was 42-28. MSU-Northern came out of the locker room to trim the lead to single digits at 48-39 within the opening five minutes of the second half but the Foresters went right back to work defensively to squelch any hopes of a comeback.

Huntington gave up just 17 points over the final 15 minutes to run away with the win. HU held the Lights to 33.9 percent shooting which included limiting them to 5-for-25 from beyond the arc. The Foresters also swiped 12 steals on the way to forcing 18 MSU-Northern turnovers.

At the other end of the court, Zach Goodline led his team offensively with 22 points and five assists. Lane Sparks finished with 20 points while four other Foresters in Landen Jordan, Jackson Paul, Joel Dyer and Gage McGuire each tossed in eight. Sparks and McGuire grabbed seven boards apiece to share game-high rebounding honors along with the Lights’ Jacob Randall.

Zackry Martinez poured in 22 points as the only double-digit scorer for Montana State.

The Foresters are off until after Christmas when they host Calumet on December 30 at 3:00 p.m.