MEN’S BASKETBALL

The #25 Huntington men’s basketball team suffered their third loss of the season, a 97-82 decision, to Saint Xavier (11-3) Saturday afternoon at the Shannon Center. It’s the Cougars’ first win over HU in their last three tries.

Much of the first half was up for grabs with the two squads swapping the lead three times and drawing even five times before Cedric Johnson nailed a three to give the Cougars a permanent lead of 36-34 with 3:31 left in the period.

The difference was 45-42 heading in to the second half where Jaeden King took over. After scoring seven points in the first frame, the 6-6 senior went off for 26 points in the final twenty minutes to finish with a game-high 33 points on 12-for-18 shooting which included knocking down five treys.

Landen Jordan scored twice in a 30-second span to start the half to pull HU within a point at 47-46 but King’s response was swift as he scored the game’s next eight points to give his team their largest lead of the afternoon up to that point at 55-46 with 17 minutes to go.

Huntington rattled off the next six points to keep SXU in sight. Unfortunately, over the next eight minutes, the Cougars slowly and methodically pulled away to finally establish a double-digit advantage of 82-70 with six minutes to go. As had been the case all contest, the hosts kept finding ways to put the ball in the hole much to the chagrin of Alford and crew who weren’t able to catch them.

Saint Xavier shot an impressive 60.3 percent (35-for-58) from the field with three Cougars pouring in at least 20 points. In addition to King’s 33 points, Kevin Bishop and Johnson each chipped in 20 for SXU. Johnson also corralled a game-best 15 rebounds for a double double.

Jordan came up big for HU. The 6-9 sophomore was a perfect 9-for-9 from the floor for 18 points in addition to cleaning the glass with 12 boards, half of which were at the offensive end. It’s his fourth double double of the year.

Lane Sparks also dropped 18 for the Foresters. Ben Humrichous tossed in 14 points to go along with four assists, three steals and three rebounds. Zach Goodline and Mitchell Wilson finished with 11 points apiece. Goodline also dished out eight assists.

Huntington shot 52.3 percent (34-for-65) from the field but struggled to handle SXU’s defensive pressure. HU committed an uncharacteristic 17 TOs that the Cougars cashed in for 26 points. The charity stripe was also a factor with Saint Xavier outscoring their visitors 18-4.

With this loss, HU drops to 10-3 on the season. The Foresters will look to bounce back on Monday when they host Ohio Christian at 3:00 p.m.