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HU men win over Bethel U

The Huntington University men’s basketball team found a way to sneak out of the Weikamp Athletic Center on Wednesday, Feb. 10, with a 99-91 come-from-behind win over No. 17 Bethel University.

Down by nine, 82-73, with 8:32 remaining, a quick timeout by Coach Kory Alford fueled his team’s comeback.  The Foresters’ response was a fast and furious 16-2 run over a three-minute spurt that catapulted them on top 89-84.

“I’m really proud of our effort tonight,” said Alford. “It’s always hard to win on the road in this conference but our guys never folded. They played hard for 40 minutes and got enough stops down the stretch to take the lead and then hold for the win.”

Zach Goodline finished with 23 points and five assists to lead the Foresters. Spencer Ballinger came off the bench to pour in a season-best 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting in addition to swiping three steals. Peyton West added 18 points, four rebounds and four steals all the while defending one of the league’s best in TreVion Crews.

Caleb Middlesworth, in nine minutes of action, logged 14 points. Ben Humrichous and Hank Pulver shared team-high rebounding honors with seven apiece.

“I thought Peyton was fantastic on both sides of the ball,” noted Alford. “He made it tough on Crews all night and was highly efficient offensively.
“Spencer also stepped up huge for us. He played a lot of minutes and provided a ton of scoring off the bench.”

Jared DeHart topped all scorers with 26 points. Crews finished with 25 while Wesley Burse and Jani Griffith netted 20 and 11 points respectively. Griffith also pulled down a game-best 11 rebounds for the night’s only double double.