Shane Merryman fired in 30 points on 12 of 13 field goal shooting to lead the Huntington University men's basketball team past Robert Morris University, 89-85, on Friday, Nov. 16, in the first round of the Grace College Classic.
Merryman, a 6-5 junior, hit 6 of 8 free throw attempts as well and grabbed off a game-high 12 rebounds to lead the Foresters to their third win in five games this season. His marksmanship led HU to a 27 of 44 shooting effort for a sizzling 61.4 percent for the night.
TJ short added 20 points, including a 12 of 15 showing effort at the free-throw line, Alec Peterson had 15 points and Ryan Boester came off the HU bench with 10 as the Foresters overcame a 40-38 Robert Morris lead after the first half.
Morris was led by Larry Dumas, who scored a game-hgh 34 points. Sean Montgomery had 14 and Kashaune McKinney added 11 as Morris fell to 2-3.
Merryman made all 10 of his shots from the field in the first half as HU built a 12-point lead at 20-8 in the first nine minutes of the half, then saw the Eagles come back to take the lead at halftime. HU still held an 11-point margin with 7:55 left to go in the first half before a 20-4 run by Morris got it a 36-30 lead with 2:53 left to play in the half.
Short and Boester each had three assists to lead HU.
HU added 34 of 44 from the free-throw line for 77.3 percent to its field goal mark.
The Eagles hit 35 of 75 shots from the field for 46.7 percent and 8 of 15 from the charity stripe for 53.3 percent.