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12.04.07 -
The Huntington University Foresters (8-3) built a six-point lead at
the break and then held off the Cougars of St. Francis (6-3) 68-61 to
move to 2-0 in the Mid-Central Conference.
The Foresters jumped
out to a big 15-5 lead through the first five minutes of play, but St.
Francis didn’t fold. The Cougars stepped up the defense and whittled
Huntington’s lead down to two at 23-21 at the 7:54 mark. The
Foresters responded with a 10-3 run to push the advantage back to nine
at 33-24 with three minutes to go in the period and then took a 34-28
lead at intermission.
St. Francis emerged from the locker room with a lot more defensive
intensity and used an 11-3 run over the first four and a half minutes
of play to jump in front of the Foresters 41-37. Huntington evened it
up at 43 and then the two teams began to trade baskets. Two free
throws from Luke Smith at the 7:35 mark gave the Foresters the lead
for good at 53-52. It was still a one-point game when Huntington got
a jumper at the foul line from Kevin Kyle and back-to-back driving
lay-ups from Kyle Benge to give the Foresters a 65-58 lead with 1:37
to play. The Cougars cut it to five on their next possession, but it
was as close as they would get as Huntington hit enough free throws
down the stretch to hold off St. Francis.
Huntington’s Benge topped all scorers in the game with 19 points.
Doug Sheckler finished with a double-double with 16 points and a
game-high 12 rebounds and Kevin Kyle added 15 points and nine boards.
Nate Bojrab scored 16 points off the bench to lead St. Francis. Kevin
Sindle chipped in 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Cougars.
St. Francis edged the Foresters 42-40 in the battle of the boards, but
Huntington went 26-56 from the field for 46.4% while the Cougars were
25 for 73 for 34.2%.
Box Score
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