MEN’S BASKETBALL

In a game that came down to the wire against the Grace College Lancers (7-3, 3-0), the HU men’s basketball team was on the wrong end of a 73-71 decision Saturday afternoon at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center. With this loss, Huntington drops to 5-5 overall, 1-2 in league play.

It was a stunning ending that the Forester contingent won’t soon forget. With just under two minutes remaining, HU clung to a two-point advantage of 71-69. After trading several empty possessions, Grace finally drew a foul with :17 ticks remaining. Hank Smith calmly stepped up to the line where he drained both attempts to draw the game’s sixth tie of the day at 71s.

Platt and company wisely worked the clock down for the final shot. It looked like the game would head to OT as HU’s shot rattled off the rim but with 0.4 seconds remaining, a loose ball foul was called on the Foresters in a scramble for the rebound.

It sent Jaret Sons, who has yet to miss a freebie this season, to the charity stripe at the other end of the floor. His perfect streak continued as he canned both tries to give the Lancers the final say.

The rest of the game was a series of ups and downs for both teams. Caleb Middlesworth got his team off to a fast start by scoring five of his 17 points in the opening two-and-a-half minutes to pace the Foresters to a 10-0 start. HU stretched the lead to as many as 13 on Konner Platt’s second of three treys just a few minutes later. Once the Lancers finally got their feet under them, they cut into the lead by four by intermission for a 40-31 difference that still favored the visitors.

Grace spent the first six minutes of the second half playing catchup to eventually tie things up at 47-47 by the 13:25 mark. No more than two possessions separated the two teams after that which set the stage for the wild finish.

In addition to Middlesworth’s 17 points, HU’s offensive production also came by way of Peyton West (15), Platt (15) and Spencer Ballinger (14).

West and Ballinger shared rebounding honors with six apiece. West also parceled out four assists and snagged three steals.

Haden Deaton topped all scorers with 18 points. Matt Jennings and Charlie Warner collected ten points each to round out Grace’s double-digit scoring.

The Foresters hit the road on Thursday to face IU Northwest at 7:00 p.m.