MEN’S BASKETBALL

The HU men’s basketball team upped its win streak over the Goshen College Maple Leafs to six Wednesday night at Gunden Gymnasium with an 82-69 victory over their hosts.

The W bumps Huntington’s overall record to 7-1, 2-1 in Crossroads League action. Goshen, coming off a 70-68 OT win over Spring Arbor, drops to 3-9 on the year which includes a 1-4 league record.

“It was the first conference road game for our young players,” said Coach Kory Alford. “We’re happy to come away with a win. It’s the second straight game we’ve struggled to shoot the three but I thought tonight we found other good ways to score.”

In several ways, it was business as usual for Alford and crew. For the third time this season, scoring was by committee with all five starters claiming double figures. Zach Goodline topped the list with 17 points. Peyton West added 16. Hank Pulver tossed in 14 while Caleb Middlesworth and Ben Humrichous dropped in 12 and 11 points respectively.

Tonight’s win was also the fifth time HU has posted a double-digit victory.

While it was an off night from deep, the Foresters still managed to shoot 51.6 percent from the floor which proves the fifth time this year they’ve made over half their shots. Averaging 12 triples a game, the Foresters knocked down just five in today’s contest but made up for it by connecting on 70.0 percent of their attempts in the paint (28-for-40).

The evening saw Goshen score on its opening possession, but it served as the hosts’ only lead of the game as Huntington unleashed a 15-2 run after that to jet in front by 11 within the opening five minutes. The Foresters grew their advantage to as many as 15 in the first frame before taking a 38-29 lead into recess.

While the Maple Leafs trimmed it to seven to start the second period, HU pieced together another surge, this time outscoring Goshen by ten over a six-minute spell, to take their largest lead of the game at 55-38. Spencer Ballinger, seeing his first minutes of the year, capped off the 17-7 run with a pair of free tosses. The 6-5 junior finished with six points in his season debut.

Alford’s crew stood their ground the rest of the way by never letting the lead dip below 11 points.

Austin Branagan led all scorers with 23 points for Goshen. Tahj Curry racked up 20 points while Michael Bowers finished with 17.

The Foresters will have their hands full on Saturday when they go up against 3rd-ranked Indiana Wesleyan in Luckey Arena at 1:00 p.m.