Penha’s Career Day Spoiled in Defeat to USF
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – CJ Penha sank eight-of-10 field goals for a career-high 20 points and Ryan Robinson netted his 11th 20-point outing of the year, but the Taylor defense struggled to slow Saint Francis in an 84-75 road loss.
Robinson knocked down 10-of-19 baskets to finish with a game-high 24 points, while becoming the 35th player in TU program history to surpass 1,200-career points. Penha added five rebounds, two steals and one block to his first-collegiate 20-point outing and Evan Crowe finished with nine points as the only other Trojan to score more than five.
Saint Francis (13-11, 6-6 CL) handled the Taylor defense by shooting over 55.0 percent in each half and closed the contest with a 57.4-percent clip from the field, becoming just the fourth opponent to shoot over 50.0 percent in a game against the TU defense this season.
USF opened on a 9-2 stretch, before Taylor countered with a 22-10 spurt to claim a 24-19 lead. The Cougars battled back and eventually took an eight-point lead to the break, before extending the gap in the final stanza and settling on the nine-point win.
Taylor (11-13, 5-7 CL) will hope to bounce back when it hosts Huntington (14-10, 4-8 CL) on Tuesday at 7:00 pm inside Odle Arena.