The Huntington University men's basketball team spread the ball around on offense and defeated host Mount Vernon Nazarene University, 64-58, on Saturday, Feb. 2, snapping a six-game losing streak.

It was a tight contest, with the Foresters leading the Cougars by only two at halftime, 24-22, and the teams playing to nine ties overall. The game's last tie came at the 4:15 mark in the second half on a Ryan Boester free throw that made things 50-50. After that, Huntington outscored Mount Vernon Nazarene 14-8 and picked up another six points at the charity stripe to seal the victory.

Shane Merryman led the Foresters, 13-13, 4-10 in the Crossroads League, with 18 points on 6 of 8 shooting and a 6 for 10 performance at the free throw line. T.J. Short supplied 17 points to Huntington's cause, Alec Peterson put in 11 and Boester netted 10.

The Foresters created offense from defense throughout the contest, scoring 17 points off turnovers to just nine for the Cougars.

Offensively, Mount Vernon Nazarene, 10-16, leaned on Jason Dawson, who tallied 29 points on 10 of 18 shooting, going 3 for 6 from beyond the arc and 6 of 8 at the charity stripe. Caleb Williams added 10 points.

Huntington upped its shooting percentage from 32.1 to 58.3 after the half and made 23 of 52 shots for the game for a clip of 44.2, bettering Mount Vernon Nazarene's 21 of 51 effort for 41.2 percent.

Boester had four assists to lead HU in that category.