TU Men Ride Hot Shooting to Neutral Court Win Over Viterbo
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DEERFIELD, Ill. – Taylor made 14-of-18 field goals in the first half, led by six triples from Evan Crowe in the opening 20 minutes of action and never trailed, en route to an 87-76 win over Viterbo on Friday night at the Trinity International Classic.
The 15th-ranked Trojans bolted to a 10-2 lead and extended the gap to 15, before taking a 48-37 lead to the intermission. TU did not miss a two-point shot in the half and drilled nine-of-13 looks from the perimeter.
Crowe led the onslaught with six-of-seven shooting from deep for 18 first-half points, with Mason Degenkolb adding 10 in the opening period on three-of-four shooting.
Both teams cooled off after the break but TU continued to control the action, widening its margin to a game-high of 23 points with 12 minutes to play and cruising from there to the 11-point victory.
Ryan Robinson took the lead for Taylor in the second stanza with 12 points, while Crowe and Degenkolb combined for 16 more to help TU maintain its comfortable lead.
For the game, Crowe led all players with 25 points and hit a career-high seven trifectas to go with two steals. Degenkolb ended with 19 points and four assists, with Robinson knocking down three triples and scoring 15 points.
Keaton Hendricks followed with eight points and two steals and Emmanuel Boateng chipped in six points and six rebounds for the Purple and Gold.
TU shot 54.0 percent from the field and nailed 14-of-30 threes for a blistering 46.7-percent rate. The Trojans also racked up 16 assists and only committed nine turnovers.
No. 15 Taylor (2-0) and No. 8 Trinity International (1-0) are set to face off on Saturday at 8:30 pm (ET) in an early season showdown between the two NAIA National Tournament Sweet 16 foes from one year ago.
