Huntington grabs late lead and holds on for win

BATTLE IN THE PAINT Zak Smith, Westfall 26 pts, 17 rebs, 5 blocks Dylan Gragg, Huntington 21 pts, 13 rebs, hit two late FTs to win it

Westfall owned the lead for most of Friday night’s SVC battle, but with less than 10 seconds remaining it was Huntington’s Dylan Gragg connecting twice from the free throw line to grab a one-point lead. The Mustangs did have one last chance, but trouble in-bounding the ball led to a deep three that fell well short giving Huntington a 63-62 win. The key match-up in this game took place in the paint. With two of the top SVC centers in Gragg and Westfall’s Zak Smith, both teams were attempting to establish their inside game. Both guys failed to disappoint as they produced huge nights. In a way, these two neutralized one another leaving the game to be decided by the supporting cast, and Huntington received some big shots from Gragg’s supporting cast. Guards Kyle Deal and Clint Turner both delivered key perimeter shots late in the fourth quarter as well as some key plays from C.J. Seymour that helped Huntington stay close. Both these teams are in SVC action again Saturday night as Westfall travels to Zane Trace and Huntington travels to Adena.

www.svcsportszone.com