Great Season . . .
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high score of 117 points against Kuyper College. In the process, they also tied a team record for highest field goal percentage in a game. They shot 66.7%, tying the mark set back in 1995 versus Defiance College.
To emphasize the fact, the Foresters equaled that same mark five days later in Chicago, hitting 66.7% of their shots in a convincing 23-point win over NAIA D1 St Xavier. But, it didn’t always go that well. A week later, they hit the lowest shooting percentage for the season (35.2%) in a 1-point loss at NAIA D1 Olivet Nazarene.
At the free throw line, the Foresters were impressive all season long. They finished #1 in the NAIA, shooting 77.1% from the charity stripe for the entire season, shooting over 85% in 7 different games.
NEWCOMER CONTRIBUTIONS
Freshman Tyler Shively led the Foresters at the line with a free throw percentage of 91.8%. That not only led the team and the Conference, it was also #1 in the entire NAIA. When the season ended, Shively had hit 54 consecutive free throws without a miss, breaking the previous record of 46 (set in 1995 by Galen Mast).
Unlike most seasons, underclassmen dominated many of HU’s stats. Freshmen and sophomore players scored 59% of the points, pulled in 77% of the rebounds and provided 65% of the assists. In terms of playing time, 36% of the minutes were by freshmen. HU hasn’t had that kind of freshmen class contribution for some time.
Freshman Andrew Mock took over the point guard role and provided over 100 assists this year; Tyler Shively was also the team’s 3rd leading scorer and 4th leading rebounder; Kellen Zawadzki hit 33 three-point shots and recorded the 2nd best free throw percentage; Alex Nafziger had over 40 rebounds and shot 44.4% from the field. This was a great group of freshman players.
NATIONAL TOURNAMENT - NEXT YEAR
It was a pleasure to see this team progress over four months. At end of the season, the Foresters were ranked in the Top Fifteen by all four of the national statistical (computer) rating systems.
The Wolfe system ranked the Foresters at #13 in NAIA D2, the Rothman system had Huntington at #15, the Massey system put them at #14, and Massey’s MOV (margin of victory) system ranked them #15 in NAIA D2.
In spite of those worthy ratings, the NAIA Coaches Final Poll failed to recognize the overall strength of the MCC Conference and placed Huntington at #27. That poor judgment caused the Foresters to miss out on an “At Large” bid to the national tournament this year, but you can expect the Foresters to be back next year.
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