MEN’S BASKETBALL

The 2nd-seeded Knights of Marian University (20-4) brought an end to the 7th-seeded HU men’s basketball team’s season Wednesday night at the MU Physical Education Center by handing their guests an 86-71 loss in first round action of the Crossroads League Tournament.

Marian’s offense was a collective effort in the opening 20 minutes with eight different players putting points on the board. The backbone of their offense, Cameron Wolter, fueled a well-balanced attack by tossing in 15 first-half points to send his team into the locker room with a 41-28 lead.

While stops did not come easy for the Foresters in the first period, turnovers also plagued Alford’s crew. Huntington has established a reputation for making few mistakes, averaging just over ten TOs per outing, but on this given night they totaled that number by intermission.

HU came out of break with renewed purpose, outscoring their hosts 8-1 to close the gap to seven, 43-36, just three minutes into the second half. Ben Humrichous and Hank Pulver each scored twice during the spurt but there was little time to celebrate. A timeout by Marian got the home team back on track. By the 14:32 mark, MU unleashed for ten quick points to balloon the lead to 53-36 for the game’s largest discrepancy up to that point.

While Huntington played even with their 13th-ranked league foes the rest of the night, they never get closer than 13 points to make for a quiet bow out by game’s end. After managing just two threes in the first frame, HU connected on seven in the closing 20 minutes and committed just four blunders after recess while forcing Marian into eight.

Humrichous posted 14 points to top Alford and crew. Spencer Ballinger and Pulver also finished in double figures with 12 and 11 points respectively. Ballinger ripped down a team-best eight rebounds. Peyton West’s name sprinkled the stat sheet. The 6-1 junior guard collected nine points, five boards, five assists and three steals.

Wolter tallied a game-high 19 points and led the evening in rebounding too with ten. Christian Harvey poured in 16 points, Tyrie Johnson added 13 and Christian Stewart finished with 12.

The Foresters wrap up the year with a 16-11 record.