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Hinen's 27 lead Foresters past Marian

Huntington University’s Derek Hinen (left) zips by a defender from visiting Marian University in the first half of a men’s basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 30. Hinen scored a game-high 27 points and the Foresters won, 88-79.
Huntington University’s Derek Hinen (left) zips by a defender from visiting Marian University in the first half of a men’s basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 30. Hinen scored a game-high 27 points and the Foresters won, 88-79. Photo by Steve Clark.

Derek Hinen scored 27 points to lead the Huntington University men’s basketball team over visiting Marian University, 88-79, on Saturday, Jan. 30.

Hinen, a junior, tossed in six points for the Foresters during a 13-2 run in the opening half that saw them turn a one-point lead, 25-24, into a 12-point advantage, 38-26, with 5:30 remaining until halftime.

Hinen’s junior running mate, Daniel Woll, kicked off the scoring spree with a basket in the paint at the 10:20 mark. Hinen then scored in the painted area himself, getting an assist from freshman Josh Rutland. Woll scored in the lane once more, then dished to Hinen for another bucket in the paint. A three-ball by sophomore Kyle Platt and a basket by Hinen capped the run. Huntington went into the locker room with its dozen-point lead intact, 49-37.

The Foresters led throughout the second stanza, but started to sweat when a 7-0 points binge by the Knights cut their lead from 82-70 down to 82-77 with 41 seconds remaining. Woll, though, drained four freethrow attempts down the stretch to help keep the hosts in front and ultimately climb back to .500 with a 12-12 overall record and 6-6 mark in the Crossroads League.

Devon Merder tallied 18 points for Huntington while Woll topped out at 15. Merder, a sophomore, also corralled nine rebounds, helping give the Foresters 37 for the game, which matched the Knights’ production.

Huntington shot 49.2 percent from the field on 32 of 65 marksmanship and 68.4 percent at the free-throw line with a 13 of  19 effort.

Marian, 19-5, 7-5 in league play, got 20 points and 11 rebounds from Dion Smith. Dwight Cliff contributed 13 points to the visitors’ cause while Nick Painter added 12 and Wesley Stowers chipped in 11.

The Knights converted 30 of 64 field goal attempts for 46.9 percent and 15 of 19 freebie tries for 78.9 percent.