MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Huntington men’s basketball team topped off Thanksgiving break with a 103-84 win over Manchester University Saturday afternoon at Platt Arena. The non-conference matchup was the first time these two squads have met during Coach Platt’s tenure.

With this W, the Foresters improve to 7-1 while the Spartans drop to 1-2.

Caleb Middlesworth was dead-eye from downtown in the first half by going 5-for-5 on his way to pouring in 25 points in the opening frame to send HU into the locker room with a comfortable 57-36 cushion. As a team, Huntington combined to go 11-for-17 from long range (.647) in the stanza.

While HU’s shooting was on point in the first half, even more impressive was the hosts’ defense in the first 11 minutes that limited Manchester to just eight points to make for the game’s largest difference of the day, 42-8, at the 8:45 mark.

The Spartans finished out the period by outscoring Platt’s crew by 13 behind Adrian Johnson’s 20 points. While MU made a dent in their deficit, a 21-point gap still separated the two teams at the midway point.

Huntington got off to a fast start in the second half to squelch any notion the Spartans might have had of an epic comeback. Seven points by Tyler Arens in the opening four minutes along with old-fashion three-point plays by Middlesworth and Zac Owens accounted for a 13-2 run that bumped the lead back up to 32 at 70-38 with just over 16 minutes to go.

Once again, 13 was the magic number for the visitors as they spent the rest of the contest outscoring HU by that much to close to within 19 by the final buzzer. Huntington’s lead never dipped below 15 points.

Middlesworth finished with a career-best 36 points on 14-for-21 shooting. He also grabbed six boards and tallied three blocks and three steals for the best all-around performance of his young career. Arens added 26 points and pulled down a season-high and game-best 13 rebounds.

Owens poured in 21 points while Konner Platt added 12. Nick Macon dished out season-best and game-leading 12 assists.

This afternoon was the second time this year the Foresters have gone over the century mark. Platt’s squad put up some of their best numbers of the season by nailing 13 threes and 20 free throws – both season-highs.

Johnson registered 36 points for Manchester to match Middlesworth. Cornell Hampton finished with 15 points while Jalmen Sullivan came off the bench to post 11 in the losing effort.

The Foresters jump back into conference play on Tuesday with a trip to #16 Saint Francis.