MEN’S BASKETBALL

Great players make great plays and that’s exactly what Mount Vernon senior Jevon Knox did Saturday afternoon at Platt Arena when he tracked down his own miss and put up a baseline floater that found the bottom of the net with 0.4 seconds remaining to send his team home with a 71-70 win over the Forester men’s basketball team.

The loss is HU’s first of the season as they drop to 6-1 overall, 1-1 in league play. For the Cougars, they improve to 2-0 on the year and that same record in Crossroads League play.

Knox’s big play came on the heels of Caleb Middlesworth’s bucket down low with less than 20 seconds remaining that put Huntington back on top for the final time at 70-69. While the final 20 seconds had virtual fans on the edge of their seats, the first 39:40 was equally thrilling as both teams jockeyed for control.

The contest saw six ties and nine lead changes with eight points proving the largest spread of the afternoon. The 18-10 disparity came when Zach Goodline drained his team’s second triple of the day at the 12:25 mark of the first half.

It was a two-possession game the rest of the way with the only exception, a 64-57 HU lead, with five minutes remaining. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t stick as Mount Vernon closed out the day on a 14-6 run with Knox claiming nine of those Cougar points to will his team to the W.

“Credit Mount Vernon today,” said Coach Kory Alford. “They played with great energy and really took us out of our offense.

“I was happy with the way we defended especially because our shots weren’t falling. We just didn’t get enough loose balls including the final possession which led to a great player hitting a tough shot.”

Knox finished the afternoon with a game-best 25 points while freshman Kyle Kegley poured in 22 for MVNU. The rookie guard also pulled down a game-leading 14 rebounds for his second double double in as many outings. Clay Hilliard came off the bench to add 11 points to round out Mount Vernon’s double-digit scoring.

Goodline topped the Foresters with 21 points. Middlesworth added 19 which included going 9-for-10 from the charity stripe. Hank Pulver posted 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

The Foresters have made a living from deep so far this season but on this given day, Alford and crew dropped in just five 3-pointers at a clip of 18.5 percent. HU entered the game ranked third nationally in made threes per game (13.2). Today was just the second time this year Huntington hasn’t racked up double-digit triples.

The hosts got to the line more than twice as often as Mount Vernon by going 19-for-22 for 86.4 percent. The Cougars nailed eight of their ten tries. HU also forced their visitors into twice as many TOs, committing eight to MVNU’s 16.

“This is a good example of what Crossroads League games feel like,” said Alford. “It isn’t always pretty but good teams find a way to win. We will learn from this game and move forward.”

Huntington will have that opportunity on Wednesday when they hit the road for the second time this season to face Goshen at 7:00 p.m.