MEN’S BASKETBALL

Day two of the Ness Bros. Hall of Fame Classic saw the #14 HU men’s basketball team suffer their first loss of the season, a 92-89 decision, to WVU Tech Saturday afternoon at Platt Arena.

It marks the program’s first home non-conference loss since Coach Kory Alford took over the program four years ago.

After a 37-point win over Harris-Stowe on Friday night, the Golden Bears brought a confidence into today’s contest that the hosts couldn’t snuff out. WVU Tech raced out to a 10-2 lead, and it set the tone for what was to come.

Huntington trailed the entire contest except for a brief 63-63 deadlock with 12 minutes remaining. It was an 8-0 spurt capped off with a monstrous dunk by Landen Jordan in transition that finally pulled the hosts even with their guests. Unfortunately, it was met with a 7-0 counter that put Tech back in the driver’s seat.

It was a familiar pattern at that point as every time it felt like HU was building momentum, the Golden Bears had an answer. WVU Tech most often looked to Andrew Work and Brant Smithers to foil any Huntington plans of a comeback.

Smithers did his best work in the first half by going a perfect 5-for-5 from deep. Work took over after that by scoring 18 of his game-high 23 points after intermission. Smithers nailed two more from downtown in the final 20 minutes to finish with 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting from long range. Braden Chapman chipped in 20 points, which included four threes, while Thomas Hailey added ten to make for a well-balanced attack for the visitors.

Tech finished 14-for-21 for 66.7 percent from beyond the arc while HU had an off day from three-point territory, knocking down just three of their 14 attempts.

The Foresters found themselves down by as many as 16 midway through the first half before battling back to close to within three at 45-42 with just over a minute left in the period. The Bears’ response was a quick five points on the way to taking a 50-44 lead into the break.

A pair of freebies by Jackson Paul followed by a Lane Sparks’ three to start the second frame made for a slim 50-49 difference. It was a one-possession game more often than not leading up to the 63-63 stalemate. After that, the difference swelled to as many as nine and shrunk to as little as one before settling on the final three-point discrepancy by game’s end much to the disappointment of Alford and crew.

Zach Goodline paced HU with 22 points and four assists. Sparks finished with 21 points. Gage McGuire and Jordan added 13 points apiece while Paul tallied ten. Huntington’s starting five accounted for all but eight of the team’s 89 points.

The Foresters (2-1) are back in action Wednesday to host Madonna at 7:00 p.m.