MEN’S BASKETBALL

The field of 64 teams for the 86th annual NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship was chopped in half Friday afternoon with the 11th-seeded HU men’s basketball team moving on after disposing of 6th-seeded Antelope Valley, 85-71, at the ACU Events Center on the campus of Arizona Christian.

With this win, Huntington advances to the championship game of the four-team pod to face 3rd-seeded (and host) Arizona Christian with the winner advancing to the Sweet Sixteen in Kansas City next week.

After a jittery first 20 minutes, the Foresters came out of the locker room with a newfound confidence to turn a 29-29 draw at halftime into a 14-point victory by the final horn. No question the Pioneers were the quickest and most athletic opponent that Alford and crew have faced this season with HU’s turnovers in direct proportion to that.

While Huntington committed a season-high 20 TOs, they made up for it by shooting 61.8 percent from the field (34-for-55) which included knocking down eight long balls at a clip of 57.1 percent. It was a physical game from tip-off, and it took both teams the entire half to settle in as points were hard to come by for both teams.

Landen Jordan set the tone to start the second half by scoring two quick buckets which included one of his signature dunks to put HU up 33-29 less than a minute in. After five ties and six lead changes in the first half, HU never trailed after Jordan’s dunk.

Jackson Paul accounted for Huntington’s next five points and then it was Romain Brewer’s three, his first of the year, that upped the lead to 41-34 by the 16:27 mark. Ninety seconds later, courtesy of a Jordan layup, HU enjoyed the game’s first double digit disparity of 47-37.

Antelope Valley would trim it to nine a handful of times after that but would get no closer.

It was a team effort for Alford’s crew with different Foresters stepping up at various times throughout the contest. The Goodline brothers, Zach and Drew, each tossed in ten first half points to carry the team into intermission.

After the break, Jordan, Paul and Joel Dyer all came up big. Jordan had a double double in the second half of 14 points and 11 rebounds. Paul poured in all 13 of his points in the final 20 minutes while Dyer came out of the locker room to put up 11 points.

While scoring was by committee in the second half, just as significant was HU’s response after their floor general Zach Goodline was whistled for this fifth foul with three minutes remaining. It was an 80-67 ball game when Goodline took a seat, but Huntington rallied around his absence to actually increase the lead by one by game’s end.

Jordan posted huge numbers for the Foresters. The 6-9 junior finished with a team-leading 18 points by going 8-for-11 from the floor and 2-for-3 from the line. He also ripped down a career-best 18 rebounds.

Zach Goodline added 15 points. Drew Goodline chipped in 14  points and swiped four steals. Dyer was HU’s spark off the bench. The senior sharp-shooter was dead eye from deep where he went 4-for-5 on his way to scoring a career-tying 14 points.

Paul did a little bit of everything for his team. In addition to scoring 13 points, he also snagged six rebounds and handed out six dimes.

HU’s last win on the big stage was in 2022 but prior to that, it had been 16 years when the Foresters made it to the championship game in 2006 under the direction of legendary coach Steve Platt. The Foresters (22-9) are back in action tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. (EST) to face the ACU Firestorm for a chance to punch their ticket to the Sweet Sixteen.