Trojans Fall in Tight Contest on the Road Against Saint Francis

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Taylor began Crossroads League play on Wednesday evening on the road, falling 90-83 against Saint Francis (8-1, 1-0 CL) after battling until the final whistle.

Taylor traded buckets in the opening minutes before going on a 10-0 run fueled by five points from Nate Paarlberg, a triple by Anton Webb, and a bucket from Chaz Harvey, who pulled down a pair of rebounds in the stretch.

A comfortable lead was maintained and stretched to its largest of the evening at 27-15 after a 7-0 run bookended by jump shots from Harvey, who scored seven of his 11 in the opening half.

Saint Francis quickly went on a run of its own to grab its first lead at 31-30 on one of its 15 converted attempts from the charity stripe in the first half, compared to just a pair attempted and made by TU.

The Trojans were not phased and came back with an 11-3 run to retake the lead, as Pete Combs capped it with a bucket. The sophomore made all four of his shot attempts for eight points and is currently shooting over 80 percent from the field through six games.

A halftime lead of six was extended to nine in the opening minutes of the second stanza as Webb started to take over in the paint, scoring 15 of his team-high 24 points after the break.

The Cougars got within one, but TU held the lead until the 12:20 mark as a series of buckets from both teams saw the lead change hands five times in under three minutes of action.

Webb made a layup to give TU a 61-60 advantage in what turned out to be the final lead of the evening for the Trojans before a dunk by Webb knotted the score at 63.

An 11-2 run from Saint Francis put the lead at nine, the largest of the night for the home squad, and Taylor tried valiantly to close the gap late with Kaden Fuhrmann splashing home back-to-back triples to cut the lead to three, but the Cougars answered each one with a three of their own.

The hot shooting cooled in the final minute, and Taylor succumbed to defeat. Webb's 24 points and eight rebounds both led the team, and he chipped in a pair of assists, two steals, and a block in a terrific showing for the senior. Harvey dished out a team-high five assists in only 19 minutes due to foul trouble, while Kobe Funderburk added 12 points and four dimes off the bench.

The Trojans shot a blistering 52.2 percent from the field but were undone at the free throw line, where Saint Francis held a 19-point advantage on 23 more attempts due to 11 fewer fouls on the home squad.  

Taylor (4-2, 0-1 CL) continues Crossroads League action on Saturday, November 23, inside Odle Arena against Mount Vernon Nazarene (3-3, 0-1 CL), with tip-off set for 3:00 pm.