TU Men Even Record with Fourth-Straight Win
UPLAND, Ind. – After opening the year winless in four tries, Taylor closed its first half of the season at 8-8 by taking a 92-58 win over Kentucky Christian on Friday for its fourth-straight win and eighth victory in its last 12 outings.
The Trojans led from the opening possession for the second-straight game and have not faced a deficit in over 118 minutes of game action during the past three games. TU controlled KCU (2-18) on both ends of the court, holding the Knights to a 36.1-percent rate from the field, while overpowering them on the other end to shoot 60.4 percent inside the arc.
TU made 29-of-48 two-point attempts and posted a 52-16 edge in paint points over the visitors. Taylor also grabbed 10 more rebounds than Kentucky Christian to improve to 7-1 this season when winning the battle of the glass.
Ryan Robinson led five Trojans in double figures with 20 points for his ninth game of at least 20 points this season and dished out six helpers to fuel the attack. Mason Degenkolb flirted with a triple-double, before finishing with 13 points and career-highs of eight rebounds and seven helpers and James McCloud added 10 points and six boards.
Evan Crowe and CJ Penha highlighted another strong showing from the Taylor reserves, combining for 28 points to help TU outscore KCU 37-13 off the bench. Crowe posted a season-best 15 points on four-of-nine from deep, with Penha notching a career-best of 13 points on six-of-eight shooting, to go with seven rebounds and two steals.
Despite opening just four-of-15 from deep during the opening half, the Trojans still took a 16-point lead to the break after a long trey from Ryan Robinson rattled in as time expired for a 45-29 lead.
Kentucky Christian opened the second half on a 12-4 push to narrow the margin to 49-41, but Taylor answered with 11-straight points and used a 32-8 rally to put the game out of reach on the way to the 34-point victory.
Taylor (8-8) will aim for a fifth-straight win when it hosts Judson (3-11) on January 2 at 7:00 pm.
