Comeback Bid Falls Agonizingly Short for Trojans Against No. 13 IWU
MARION, Ind. – Taylor went down early but stormed back to tie the game with under four minutes remaining before falling 71-65 against cross-county rivals No. 13 Indiana Wesleyan.
Jason Hubbard led the Trojans with 24 points and five rebounds, while Anton Webb continued to be a force off the bench, tying his career-high of 16 points and grabbing a team-high eight boards.
The Trojans struggled out of the gates, trailing 9-0 before Hubbard hit a jumper, part of 15 first-half points, to put TU on the board.
After the teams traded buckets, Grant Niehaus bookended an 8-0 run with buckets to cut the lead to four with 12 minutes remaining in the half.
The Wildcats stretched the lead to as many as 13 before Taylor scored the final four points of the half to trail by seven going into the locker room.
Indiana Wesleyan (19-7, 13-3 CL) scored the first five points after the break to extend the lead to 12.
The Trojans (13-13, 7-9 CL) eventually cut the lead to seven, fueled by two triples by Webb, at the midway point of the second half, but missed three open shots from beyond the arc that could have cut the lead to four.
The lead rose to ten off a pair of the 17 free throws in the game for the Wildcats. The Trojans then mounted their comeback, sparked by a flagrant foul, by scoring the next ten points, with Kaden Fuhrmann hitting a jumper and a three-pointer to tie it up at 61.
The teams traded baskets again, with TU missing two more triples that would have given them the lead with under three minutes remaining in the game, which allowed Indiana Wesleyan to grab a four-point lead.
Webb scored a bucket and was fouled but could not complete the three-point play as the Trojans struggled from the charity stripe, shooting just 4-9 throughout the contest.
The lead was three with under a minute, but clutch shooting continued to evade the Trojans, with two more triples falling short with a chance to tie the game.
The free-throw disparity, 17-4 in favor of Indiana Wesleyan, and rebounding proved to be the difference in the tight contest, with the Wildcats securing 36 boards and TU grabbing 21.
Taylor plays its final home contest of the season on Saturday, February 11, against Bethel (16-10, 8-8 CL), which will also represent Senior Day for Hubbard and Jeff Clayton, with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 pm.