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In a neighborly non-conference clash Thursday night at Platt Arena, the Forester men’s basketball team topped #RV Indiana Tech 74-73. It was the first time in a decade these two squads faced-off, with HU also winning the last two meetings, which date back to a 76-60 win in 2010 and a 79-55 win in 2009.

With this victory, Huntington improves to 8-2 on the year and marks the second Forester W over a ranked opponent with their first, a 98-78 decision, against #RV IU East back in November.

It was a night that once the Foresters took a lead with just over six minutes left in the first half, they never trailed. Prior to Spencer Ballinger’s bucket down low that gave HU a 30-28 advantage at the 6:26 mark, the two squads traded the lead seven times and deadlocked that same number of times. Ballinger went on to score six more points in the frame to help his team head into the locker room with a 47-38 lead.

Alford and crew learned firsthand that a nine-point lead can fade away in a flash. The Warriors (6-5) went on a tear to start the second half by scoring seven points in 90 seconds for a 47-45 disparity before Ben Humrichous finally stopped the bleeding with a slashing layup. The two teams traded runs after that with HU building their lead back to eight before the Warriors reeled off eight straight points for a 57-57 stalemate at the 13:05 mark.

Both teams went into lockdown mode defensively over the next five minutes with HU limiting Tech to just one field while at the other end dropping in five points from the charity stripe for a slim 62-59 tilt. Ballinger finally got his team back on track offensively with a three from the top of the key for one of the game’s biggest plays and  a 65-59 spread with eight minutes to go.

Huntington’s six-point lead still stood at 73-67 with 3:54 remaining. While HU scored just one point the rest of the way, they got the job done defensively to stave off the Warriors whose final shot at the buzzer rattled off the rim.

Zach Goodline posted 19 points, five assists and three steals to pace the Foresters. Ballinger finished with 16 points off the bench by going 4-for-5 from the field and 7-for-9 from the line while Peyton West added 11 points and a team-leading ten rebounds for a double double – his second of the year.

Caleb Middlesworth and Humrichous tossed in nine and eight points respectively to round out HU’s balanced scoring attack.

Rog Stein put up 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead Indiana Tech. Grant Smith, an IWU transfer, also claimed a double double of 14 points and ten boards. Josh Kline rounded out the Warriors’ double-digit scoring with 14.

“Tonight was a great win for our team,” said Coach Kory Alford. “Indiana Tech is very well coached and is going to win a lot of game this year. They do a great job of throwing it inside and I thought our attention to detail in practice all week had us well prepared.

“Spencer gave us huge minutes off the bench tonight. He got his hands on a lot of loose balls and was incredibly efficient on offense.”

The Foresters hit the road on Saturday to face St. Francis (Ill.) at 4:00 p.m.