MEN’S BASKETBALL

The nation’s top team in Indiana Wesleyan had their hands full Wednesday night at Platt Arena in a battle against the Forester men’s basketball team (10-5, 3-4) that eventually favored the #1 Wildcats 97-89.

“After our loss to IWU last month, was talked as a team about how we were going to play them again and we wanted to see how much progress we could make,” said Coach Kory Alford. “It was great to see our guys compete to win with the No. 1 team in the country for 40 minutes tonight.

“We didn’t achieve the end result we planned for, but we will continue to improve if we keep playing for one another with the same intensity we’ve had this week.”

With tonight’s win, the Wildcats completed the regular season sweep having beaten HU 115-89 back on December 12.

IWU (19-1, 7-1) entered the contest with an average margin of victory of 27 points but Alford’s gritty crew made sure they weren’t just another statistic. The Foresters set the tone early that they were ready to do battle, forging head by seven, 15-8, in the opening four minutes of play.

The Wildcats’ superstar, Kyle Mangas, quickly righted his team’s wrong but ripping off the next nine points to give the visitors their first lead of the evening at 17-15. While Wesleyan wouldn’t trail again, Huntington never let them stray too far out of sight.

After a 47-43 halftime score, Caleb Middlesworth dropped in a long ball to open the second frame to make for a one-point game. Wesleyan responded immediately with seven consecutive points for a little breathing room at 54-46. While Huntington had avoided a double-digit deficit up to that point, shortly after IWU finally cracked their hosts’ defense at the 16:20 mark for a 61-51 lead.

The visitors held onto a double-digit advantage for all but one possession over the next ten minutes, but HU still had some fight in them. Down 81-70 with six minutes to go, Zach Goodline cashed in on a traditional three-point play to setup a final push that also saw him and Middlesworth drop in a triple on back-to-back possessions to close in at 88-84 with 1:40 remaining.

Unfortunately, it was as close as the hosts would get as Wesleyan’s main source of income after that came at the free throw line where they went 9-for-10 to preserve the W.

Hank Pulver had a breakout night by pouring in a career- and team-best 27 points. Other double-digit scorers for HU included Goodline (23), Middlesworth (15) and Mitchell Wilson (10). Goodline also posted nine assists and five rebounds.

“Hank came out tonight with an aggressive mindset and was able to exploit some of their defensive schemes,” said Alford. “He continues to gain confidence on both ends of the floor.”

Mangas went off for 43 points on 15-for-21 shooting in addition to registering six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Dylan Alderson added 17 points while Michael Thompson III and Noah Smith netted 12 and ten points respectively. The Foresters held Seth Maxwell to just six points, ten points below his average.

Next up for HU is a clash with Grace on Saturday at Platt Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.