Offensive Outburst Leads Trojans to Road Victory

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Taylor (10-7, 4-3 CL) used an electric offensive display to secure an 82-73 victory over Saint Francis (9-8, 2-5 CL) on Saturday afternoon in Fort Wayne. The victory was the first against the Cougars on the road for Head Coach Josh Andrews.

With the win, Taylor has now amassed 1,400 victories in its program history. Taylor has had men's basketball since 1933 when it picked up ten wins in its first season on the hardwood. Coach Andrews is the third-winningest coach in TU history, with 133 victories, behind Arena namesake Don Odle, who secured 451 wins in 32 seasons at Taylor, and court namesake, Paul Patterson, who won a program-record 734 games in 34 seasons at the helm.

In an offensive outburst, TU shot over 60 percent from the field and over 45 percent from behind the arc. Jason Hubbard and Kaden Fuhrmann led the charge, combining for 48 points. Hubbard also grabbed ten rebounds for another double-double, while dishing out six assists. The Miamisburg native became the third Trojan to collect 1,000 rebounds at TU along with Gary Friesen and Scott Parsons, who both played in the 1970's for Taylor.

Taylor also dominated the glass with a 35-26 advantage, as Anton Webb had a team-high 11 boards in his first start of the season. Webb also swatted away a career-high five shots in the game.

The Trojans came out of the gates firing, grabbing a 19-10 lead at the 13:06 mark in the first half. Hubbard assisted on the first five TU buckets before scoring four of the next six points.

The Cougars scored nine consecutive points to tie the game up and set the tone of a game that would never feel out of reach for either squad.

Taylor took a two-point lead after a Jeff Clayton bucket before Saint Francis went on an 8-0 run in less than two minutes.

Gavin Yoon, who shot a perfect three for three behind the arc, splashed in a triple at the buzzer to send TU into halftime down 43-39.

The teams traded buckets for the first four minutes, and Taylor continued to trail 51-46 before Hubbard and Fuhrmann hit threes to take a one-point lead.

The lead continually traded hands before a seven-point streak put the Trojans in front 70-66 with seven minutes remaining.

The Cougars hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to two. Four points by Jakeb Kinsey sparked another Taylor run to push the advantage to eight with just under five minutes left in the contest.

The lead was down to three before TU closed the door on a comeback by scoring the final six points in the game to secure the CL road victory.

The Trojans continue CL action on the road against Mount Vernon Nazarene (9-7, 2-4 CL) on Wednesday, January 11, with a scheduled tip-off time of 7:00 pm.