MEN’S BASKETBALL

The #17 HU Huntington men’s basketball team kicked off Christmas break in the Sunshine State where they needed an extra period to dispose of New College of Florida, 80-77, Saturday afternoon at Bradenton Christian School.

The Mighty Banyans (7-4), just a second-year basketball program, came into the contest with seven wins which matches last season’s total wins having gone 7-18 in 2023-24.

HU was never able to shake their hosts in a game that came down to the final seconds of overtime. The game featured just two double-digit spreads. both in the first half and both favoring Alford’s crew, in what was an otherwise one to three possession contest.

With HU down by two at 59-57 with just over six minutes left in regulation, Landen Jordan caught fire to account for eight of Huntington’s next 12 points to put six points between the two squads at 69-63 with two minutes to go. Back-to-back triples by the Banyans knotted things up with 30 seconds remaining and the final possession belonging to Huntington. The Foresters got two decent looks but couldn’t get either to fall with a final heave ho by the hosts also off the mark to send the game to OT.

Drew Goodline put the team on his back in the extra period, knocking down a three to start things off and then connecting on a pair of step backs, one a deep two and the other a second trey to account for all but three of HU’s OT points.

While the Foresters led for all but about 60 seconds of the overtime, they still had to fight to the bitter end. With the guests hanging onto a slim two-point lead with 11 ticks remaining, Maximus Gizzi missed the front end of a 1-and-1 but quickly righted his wrong by stealing the inbounds pass. Forced to foul, New College then sent Lane Sparks to the line. He connected on one of his two attempts to leave the door open for another extra period had the Banyans netted their desperation shot.

Jordan topped all scorers with 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting. He was also perfect at the charity stripe where he went 5-for-5. Sparks tossed in 15 points and pulled down eight boards, as did Jordan. Goodline finished with 21 points while Kaden Johnson came off the bench to add 12. Gizzi posted seven assists, five rebounds, four points and three steals for HU.

Jordan Clark led the Banyans with 21 points and six assists. Diego Eslava netted 19 points while Charlie Yoder, a transfer from Saint Francis and product of Westview High School, added 18.

It was HU’s first overtime game of the season as they move to 10-2 on the year. The Foresters wrap up their time in Florida on Monday by taking on Ave Maria at 7:30 p.m.