Hubbard Pours in 25 Second-Half Points in Loss to MVNU
UPLAND, Ind. – Jason Hubbard continued his run of excellence with 25 points after the half and 32 in all but it was not enough for the Trojans in an 81-73 loss to a visiting Mount Vernon Nazarene squad on Tuesday night.
Hubbard’s 32 points were a season-high, his second 30-point game in Taylor’s last three and his fourth-straight effort of at least 25 points. During that stretch, Hubbard has averaged 29.5 points per game and shot it in at a 58.2-percent rate. Going back even further, Hubbard has scored at least 20 points in 10 of his last 11 contests, posting 25.1 points per game and shooting 53.3 percent from the field in that time.
After being held to seven points in the first half, Hubbard scored 25 of Taylor’s 40 points during the second stanza, connecting on 10-of-13 shots and playing the entirety of the game’s final 20 minutes.
Three-point plays from Hubbard and Kaden Fuhrmann opened the second half and pushed Taylor to a four-point lead, before 11-straight Taylor points off the hands of Hubbard helped the Trojans maintain its advantage at 53-50 later in the half.
Hubbard again gave Taylor leads of 64-62 and 67-64 on back-to-back buckets but MVNU (16-8, 7-6) continued to hit back and took the lead for good with five-straight points that broke a 69-69 tie.
The Cougars won the final four minutes by a 12-4 score and spoiled Hubbard’s big night with the eight-point win.
Hubbard finished the night with 32 points on 13-of-22 shooting and added eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block in 35 minutes of work.
Fuhrmann cracked double figures with 10 points and Aaron Hahn added seven points, seven rebounds and two steals.
Taylor committed only four turnovers in the game and pulled down 13 offensive rebounds, but saw MVNU shoot 50.9 percent from the field, including a 56.0-percent rate in the second half.
TU (8-16, 4-9 CL) is scheduled to host Bethel (12-13, 5-8 CL) on Saturday at 3:00 pm.