HUNTINGTON, IN – With eight seconds left in the last practice drill on Friday afternoon, point guard Matt Van Pelt sprained his ankle and has to sit out of today's game at Huntington University. Van Pelt had a front row seat watching his teammates dominate the Foresters 75-58 in Platt Arena on Huntington's campus.
The first team minutes of the game were back and forth affair with neither team able to take command of the game. Rob Hogans connected on a 3-pointer with 8:58 to go in the first half as the Cougars took a six point lead, 28-22, it was the first lead of over four points in the game.
Hogans led the Cougars with a season high, 31 points and marks the second time that the junior sharp-shooter has reached the 30 point milestone. Hogans hit 11-20 from the floor and was 5-7 from 3-point range.
Chris Bellamy scored 19 points on 6-13 shooting, including 3-4 from beyond the arc. Bellamy and Hogans combined to hit 8-11 (73%).
Matt Howe added eight points to the till and led the Cougars with 10 rebounds. Spring Arbor out-rebounded the Foresters 42-31. Hogans ripped down seven rebounds and Bellamy collected five boards.
"We played with great energy on both ends of the court," said Coach, Ryan Cottingham. "Hogans was incredible and we got great minutes from our bench to make up for the loss of 'our little floor general'".
The win proved to be very important, coupled with Taylor University losing 69-63 to Grace College, the Cougars tie with Taylor for the fourth seed in the post season tournament. Fortunately for Spring Arbor, the Cougars own the tie-breaker over Taylor and will host the Trojans, the fifth seed, in the opening round of the Crossroads League Tournament on Wednesday night on Bockwitz Court. The game is set for 7:00.
#1 Indiana Wesleyan (14-4) clinched the top seed and will host #8 Huntington (7-11) with the winner of that game playing the SAU (11-7) / Taylor (11-7) game. The bottom half of the bracket will have #2 Grace (13-5) hosting #7 Marian (8-10) with the winner of that game playing the winner of #3 Bethel (12-6) hosting #6 St. Francis (10-8).
