HUNTINGTON, IN - Sophomore, Matt Howe played the best game
of his college life as fifth seed Spring Arbor upset fourth seed Huntington
University 56-54 on the road. It was the
second time in eight days that the Cougars defeated the Foresters on the same
court and in front of the same boisterous crowd.
Howe literally took control in the first half scoring 10
points and hauling down 10 rebounds and led Spring Arbor (18-13) to a 31-25
first half lead over Huntington (21-10).
Howe would finish the game with 14 points and 15 rebounds.
"Matt Howe was the best player on the court tonight," said
Head Coach Ryan Cottingham. "He was just
a dominant player right from the start.
It's great to see our younger guys stepping up in these important
games."
Cottingham would be referring to fellow Sophomore Chris
Bellamy who scored nine points but what he did on the defensive end of the
court earned the praise from the coach.
Bellamy put the "lock down" on Huntington's leading scorer and best
player Kellen Zawadzki, who was held to just 2 points in the second half after
scoring 14 points in the first half.
With Spring Arbor leading 54-50 with 1:18 left in the game,
Huntington's Tyler Shivley hit a clutch jumper to cut the Cougar lead to 2
points. Spring Arbor brought the ball
down and with 0:52 to go, Howe missed on a short jumper off the board and the
Zawadski went coast to coast for a layup to tie the game at 54-54 with 0:52 to
play.
With 15 seconds to play, Chris Bellamy put up a 3-pointer
that just missed and Matt Howe grabbed the offensive rebound and made the
put-back to give Spring Arbor the deciding bucket and the lead 56-54.
Freshman Rob Hogans hit three huge 3-pointers and all three
came at pivotal moments in the ball game when Huntington was starting to gain
some momentum.
The timing couldn't have been better for the
underclassmen as seniors Willie Pickvet
and DJ Baisden both were not having the normal high-octane offensive
performances Cougars fans have become used to.
Baisden scored 10 points and Pickvet added 6.
Spring Arbor is playing their best basketball when it
counts. The Cougars have won seven of
the last nine games and three of the last four.
Many of the wins have come against ranked opponents.
Up next for the Cougars will be second round opponent and 1st
seed Indiana Wesleyan on Saturday, February 26 at 3:00.
