MEN’S BASKETBALL

On the prowl for a third consecutive win over a ranked opponent, the Forester men’s basketball team came up short, 96-85, against #17 Marian Saturday afternoon at Platt Arena. The loss snaps a string of three wins HU entered the game with and completes the Knights’ regular season sweep over their hosts this year.

It was neck-and-neck through the first half and continued five minutes into the second frame. With just one point separating the two squads, 49-48, at the 15-minute mark, Christian Stewart drained his third long ball of the afternoon to spark the first of seven straight possessions that the Knights scored on.

During the scoring frenzy, MU (21-4, 12-4) went on to drain two more from deep and cash in on a traditional three-point play on the way to building a 67-57 advantage with 11 minutes to go. HU trimmed it to eight on several occasions after that but would get no closer as the Knights’ offense always had an answer.

While Alford’s crew shot the ball well to finish 30-for-56 (53.6 percent) from the field which included canning ten threes at a clip of 43.5 percent, the Knights were even more accurate. The guests sizzled the nets to the tune of 58.2 percent (32-for-55) which included knocking down ten of their 19 three-point attempts (52.6 percent).

Marian also got to the line more frequently to outscore HU 22-15. Both teams missed just two freebies each and played a clean game with eight turnovers apiece.

Zach Goodline topped the Foresters with 25 points with 11 of those points coming from the charity stripe. Lane Sparks netted 19 points while Ben Humrichous tallied 16 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Stewart poured in 31 points and needed just 13 shots to do so with five of his eight field goals coming from long range. He also went a perfect 10-for-10 from the line and handed out five dimes. Other double-digit scorers for the Knights included Jacob Wiley (17), Christian Harvey (12) and Luke Gohmann (10).

With two regular season games remaining, HU (19-9) is sitting sixth in the league standings with a CL record of 8-8. Next up is a home game with Goshen on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.