Top seed Spring Arbor rolls past Taylor

SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – The top-seeded, and No. 5 ranked, Spring Arbor University men’s basketball team defeated eighth-seeded Taylor University 74-53 on Wednesday night in the Crossroads League Tournament Quarterfinals.

Spring Arbor held a slim three-point lead at halftime, but broke the game wide open in second half, outscoring Taylor 45-27 over the final 20 minutes.

With the win, the Cougars advance to the tournament semifinals where they will meet fourth-seeded Mount Vernon Nazarene University on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 3 p.m.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: No. 5 Spring Arbor 74, Taylor 53

LOCATION: McDonald Athletic Center | Spring Arbor, Mich.

RECORDS: Spring Arbor 25-6, Taylor 11-20

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Behind an electric crowd inside the McDonald Athletic Center, Spring Arbor raced out to an 11-0 lead over Taylor, highlighted by a thunderous dunk from Daniel Cluster.
• The Trojans settled in, however, and slowly chipped away at the deficit. After a quick 7-0 run late in the first half, TU closed the gap to one, 27-26. A basket from Jeff Beckman though would halt the run and give SAU a 29-26 advantage at halftime.
• It was only a four-point game, 34-30, in the early stages of the second stanza until Spring Arbor erupted on a 16-4 run over a five minute span to take complete control.

FOR THE COUGARS

• Luke Barber paced Spring Arbor with 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including four 3-pointers. He also added four rebounds and two assists.
• Paul Marandet and Jeff Beckman recorded double-doubles. Marandet tallied 14 points and 12 assists while Beckman posted 10 points and 13 rebounds.
• Brandon Durnell and Payton DeWildt followed with eight points apiece. Tom Hamilton continues his march towards 1,000 career points, finishing with seven to bring his career total to 997.
• Spring Arbor connected on 47 percent (25-for-53) of its field goal attempts and shot 75 percent (18-for-24) from the free throw line.
• The Cougars out-rebounded the Trojans 43-27.

FOR THE TROJANS

• Mason Degenkolb scored 14 points and Ryan Robinson finished with 11.
• Taylor was limited to 38 percent (23-for-61) shooting, including a 1-for-17 mark from 3-point range.

UP NEXT

Spring Arbor will host No. 11 Mount Vernon Nazarene (25-6) in the Crossroads League Tournament Semifinals on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 3 p.m.