AN EXCELLENT SEASON
The Foresters had another great season on the court, and we can be equally proud of the outstanding character and attitude of these fine young men off the court.
Huntington went 29-5 this season, losing the fewest number of games since the 1999-2000 season. They also established a "first" for the program by being rated #1 in the NAIA Coaches Poll (for 4 weeks).
In addition, Head Coach Steve Platt won his 300th game this season (Jan 30 vs Taylor) and continued on to rack up the best win ratio of any HU men’s basketball coach in HU history. Platt is now 307-133 in his 13 seasons at the helm; a win ratio of 69.8%.
NEW RECORDS SET
As if that were not enough, the Foresters set two team records and two individual records this season.
They smashed the Season Free Throw Percentage record with an overall team average of 80.1%, leaving the old mark of 78.8% in the dust, and also broke the Season 3-point Field Goal Percentage mark by hitting 42.8% beyond the arc (the previous record was 41.2%).
Kyle Ganton broke two individual records, adding to a Season Three-point Field Goal Percentage record he set last year. This year, he broke the Game Free Throw Percentage record by hitting 13 of 13 at Georgetown (KY), and set a new Career Free Throw Percentage mark by making 88.6% (482 of 544) over four years.
In addition to the above achievements, the Foresters had two players reach a career 2,000 point scoring plateau. Alex Kock ended his three-years at Huntington as the #5 scorer in HU history with 2,182 points, while Kyle Ganton became the #6 scorer in HU history with 2,126 points.
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NON-CONFERENCE (12-2)
In non-conference games, the Foresters lost only to an NCAA D1 opponent IPFW (by 1-point in overtime in Fort Wayne) and an NAIA D1 perrenial powerhouse (by 5 points in Campbellsville, KY). They defeated four other NAIA D1 schools plus all their non- conference peer-level NAIA D2 opponents.
MCC CONFERENCE (14-2 and 3-0)
In MCC games, the Foresters improved on last season’s MCC Conference record by going 14-2 in the MCC Regular Season. They also duplicated last year’s MCC Tournament mark of 3-0 by defeating Marian, Grace and Indiana Wesleyan.
This senior class leaves Huntington with the best winning record of any class in the history of HU basketball The Foresters went 108-31 over the past four years to notch a 77.7% winning percentage!
In fact, Huntington has dominated the MCC Conference for ten years. The Forester Regular Season MCC Conference record is 105-41 (72% wins) over that period, while their MCC Tournament record is now 22-5 (81% wins). No other school has more than 92 MCC Conference Game wins or 12 MCC Tournament wins in the past ten years.
NAIA TOURNAMENT (0-1)
It was no surprise that the Foresters were at the NAIA National Tournament again; it was the seventh time in the past eight years. Huntington received the #4 seed, having been rated no lower than #8 all season and having held either the #1 or #2 rating for ten weeks of the season.
But it all came to an abrupt end with an unexpected and disappointing loss in the opening round. The Foresters got behind by 15 points in the contest, but came back to lose by just 3 to Florida Memorial. Tough loss, but a great season.
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