The game started off as a defensive battle, but junior Chris Huber made sure it didn’t end that way. He scored a career-high 29 points, including tying the school record with eight three-pointers, as the Muhlenberg men’s basketball team defeated visiting Dickinson, 85-66.

Huber shot 8-for-10 from beyond the arc (10-for-16 overall) as he tied

Huber wasn’t the only Mule with a hot hand after halftime. The team shot 62.1 percent from the field – 72.7 from three-point land in the second half – to top the 80-point mark for the fourth time in five home games.

Matt German, who had eight three-pointers on December 6, 1986 at Dickinson.

“I know, as one of the guards on the team, my job is to shoot,” said Huber, who earlier in the season tied a Muhlenberg record by hitting all five threes he attempted. “So that’s what I kept doing today and luckily they were going in.”

Muhlenberg (9-8, 5-6) and Dickinson (4-14, 2-9) played close for the most of the first half as both offenses attempted to find a rhythm.

The Mules trailed 11-9 with 7:04 to play in the half, with all nine points coming courtesy of two threes and a three-point play by Huber. An 8-2 spurt over the next 1:11, including six points from senior Jimmy O’Brien, gave the Mules a 17-13 lead. The offenses started to pick up from there, with the teams exchanging baskets until late in the half.

With the score tied at 26 with 1:27 remaining in the half, O’Brien hit a layup on a give-and-go with Huber. On the next two possessions, Huber knocked down a three and followed that with an assist on junior Christopher Strachan’s jumper with three seconds left. Classmate Brandon Mefford stole the inbounds pass and converted a layup as time expired, giving the Mules a 35-26 lead.

“We weren’t hitting early, but we kept our heads up because it was a close game,” said Huber of the team’s 3-for-14 start from the field. “The spark late in the first half gave us the momentum for the rest of the game. We knew at halftime that things were going to look up in the second half.”

After a free throw by junior Jeff Stewart and a layup by classmate Tom Scott early in the second half, Huber hit his fourth three of the game to complete the 15-0 run. It was also his first of five second-half threes for Huber, two of which came during a 13-0 run as Muhlenberg pulled away from Dickinson and took a 28-point lead, 67-39, with 8:57 remaining.

Muhlenberg’s 85 points came against a defense that yields just 67.5 a game. On defense, the Mules forced 22 turnovers.

Stewart (12), O’Brien (12) and Scott (11) joined Huber as double-figure scorers. Stewart, despite playing limited minutes due to foul trouble, had a game-high 11 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season.

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