No. 17 HU Blows Out No. 18 Ave Maria in Top-20 Showdown

Ave Maria, Fla. – Christmas came early for the #17 HU men's basketball team as they ended their time in Florida by running away from #18 Ave Maria 97-69 Monday night at the Tom Golisano Field House.  

While tonight marked the first time these two squads have faced each other, they came into the contest with an eerie amount of things in common. Both teams entered the evening with a 10-2 record ranked within a spot of each other in the latest NAIA poll. The two schools also finished last season with an overall record of 22-10 and made it to the round of 32 at the NAIA National Tournament.  

Lane Sparks led the charge in the first half to send his team into the locker room up 49-36. He poured in 16 points while Jackson Paul and Kaden Johnson tossed in eight points apiece. There's more to the story than meets the eye of HU's 13-point advantage by the midway point.

The Gyrenes, who came into the evening averaging 100 points per contest, built a 27-18 lead with eight minutes to go before the Foresters came roaring back with a 13-0 run. Drew Goodline and Maximus Gizzi each drained a trifecta after which Gizzi and Landen Jordan scored a layup before Sparks took over.

The 6-3 senior knocked down a trio of threes within a two-minute span while Johnson was busy in the paint scoring six points in the final three minutes to end the period on a high note.

Goodline made sure the Foresters got off to a fast start in the second frame by canning HU's eighth triple of the night on the opening possession. By the ten-minute mark the lead was 20 and never dipped below 19 after that to make for the blowout.   

Sixty-nine points is Ave Maria's lowest point total of the year. Huntington held their hosts to a season-low .333 percent shooting percentage which included limiting the Gyrenes to 8-for-31 from beyond the arc for .258 percent, also a season-low for AMU. The loss snaps Ave Maria's eight-game win streak.

Sparks finished with 31 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Jordan recorded a double double of 13 points and ten rebounds. He also swatted three shots. Goodline tossed in 14 points, Jackson Paul added 11 and Johnson came off the bench to collect ten points and six boards.  Romain Bruwier was also a spark off the bench having posted six points, ten rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

Jack Watkins led Ave Maria with 14 points while Michael Klekas and Jonathan Effertz added 13 and 11 points respectively.

Tonight marked Huntington's third straight win as they improve to 11-2. They are off until December 30 when they host Olivet Nazarene at 3:00 p.m.

The Huntington University Foresters compete in 18 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 160 NAIA All-America honors and 567 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S. News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest.