Jacobs 56, Huntley 33
Jacobs' guard Mike Barch picked a perfect time to get healthy.
The junior, who has been limited for most of the season by injury, nailed a momentum-shifting 3-pointer as time expired in the first half against Huntley Friday night.
Jacobs carried Barch's 3-pointer into a 56-33 victory over Huntley in a Fox Valley Conference crossover at the Eagles Nest.
"Barch had an outstanding game," Jacobs' coach Jim Hinkle said. "That was a big boost. Tonight was the first time he played a lot of meaningful minutes."
All of Barch's meaningful minutes may not have been as important as the last 2 seconds of the first half.
Huntley (4-2) came within 20-17 when senior Tyler Lawrence nailed a 3-pointer off the right side with just 3 seconds left. The 3-point deficit came after Jacobs (4-2) was up 20-10 with just under 3 minutes left in the half.
Lawrence then took a pass from Tim Moran (8 points, 3 assists), heaved and connected on a 20-foot bomb to put Jacobs back up 23-17 going into the second half.
Huntley never recovered.
"The third quarter is our quarter," Jacobs' center Conrad Krutwig said. "We picked it up and started running more than we did in the first half. We always do what we have to do to win the third quarter."
Huntley sophomore Tyler Brunsch on (8 points) put Huntley within 23-19 after scoring the opening basket of the second half. Huntley would not make another field goal the rest of the half and went just 2 for 20 in the second half.
Barch scored 5 of his 14 points in the third quarter and Krutwig (12 rebounds, 3 assists) put in 4 of his game-high 18 as Jacobs went on a 14-3 run. Jacobs shot 53.8 percent (14 of 26) in the second half, with Krutwig going 4 of 8. Barch was 6 of 9 in the game.
While Jacobs continued its recent trend of coming out strong in the second half, Huntley continued a trend of its own.
The Red Raiders shot just 20.4 percent from the floor Friday night after shooting 32 and 34 percent in its last two games respectively. Zac Boster, usually deadly from the outside, was just 1 of 11 from the floor and 1 of 7 from beyond the arc. Overall, Huntley went just 4 of 21 from 3-point land, including a 1 of 7 effort in the second half. Jordan Neukirch led Huntley with 8 points and 7 rebounds.
"You're not going to win a lot of games shooting that percentage," Red Raiders' coach Marty Manning said. "Something has to change. We shot 32 and 34 (percent) in the last two games. It's not a fluke."