Huntington University guard Ryan Boester (right) maneuvers the ball upcourt against Zac Vandewater of Indiana Wesleyan during the Foresterrs' double overtime loss on Tuesday, Jan. 31. Photo by Sarah Johnson.
The Huntington University men's basketball team lost a double-overtime thriller to visiting archrival Indiana Wesleyan University, 80-78, on Tuesday, Jan. 31.
A dunk by George Jones IV with 2:33 left in the second overtime put IWU up to stay at 71-69 after the teams had battled to a 58-58 tie at the end of regulation and a 66-66 tie after the first overtime.
HU's Caleb Kennedy did his best try to avoid the outcome as he pumped in a game-high 26 points, hitting 9 of 13 shots from the field. Shane Merryman added 16 points, Ryan Boester had 13 and TJ Short contributed 11.
Both teams had leads of eight points during the contest, but neither could put the game on ice. Kennedy muscled for six points in a 12-4 run that gave HU a 29-21 lead with just under six points left in the first half, and the Wildcats held a 45-37 advantage with 13:31 left in the game.
Kennedy tossed in nine points down the stretch to help give HU a 58-56 lead with 1:32 left in regulation, but the 16th-ranked Wildcats got two free throws from Jordan Weider with 29 seconds left to send the game into the first OT. Short's layup with 29 seconds to go in the first OT knotted the score at 66-all and sent it into the second extra frame.
A three by Weidner, who topped IWU with 25 points, gave the Wildcats a 69-66 lead with 4:07 left in the frame, but HU was again able to tie things up by the 3:12 mark on a Kennedy freebie and a pair by Merryman. Weidner then stole the ball and fed Jones for the slam which put IWU up, and the Wldcats were never headed again as they improved to 16-9 overall and sent HU to 14-11.
Derrick Troyer added 16 points, Parker Stouffer had 15 and Patrick Hopkins added 10 for IWU.
Merryman had eight rebounds, Boester seven and Kennedy six as the Foresters built a 33-25 rebounding advantage.
The Foresters hit 28 of 53 shots in the contest for 52.8 percent, just topping the Wildcats' 32 of 62, 51.6 percent.
Merryman was the assist leader for HU with three dimes.
