Second-Half Drought Spoils Upset Bid for Trojans

Box Score

UPLAND, Ind. – Taylor held down one of the top-rated offenses in the Crossroads League throughout the first half to take an 11-point lead over No. 11 Bethel, but an extended scoring drought in the second stanza led to a 73-67 loss for the Trojans in Odle Arena.

TU clamped down on defense in the opening stanza, limiting Bethel (17-3, 6-2 CL) to a 32.3-percent clip from the floor, while forcing 10 turnovers from the Pilots. The stingy defense allowed Taylor to overcome a sluggish start and rattle off a 17-3 burst to take a 36-25 lead, before Bethel's first three of the half on the final possession sent the teams to the break at 36-28 in favor of the Trojans.

BC flipped the tables on Taylor out of the break, as the Trojans went one-of-17 from the field and committed five turnovers in the first 11:50 of the period. The Pilots took full advantage of the ice cold stretch from TU, using a 22-6 surge to move in front by a 50-42 margin.

Ryan Robinson snapped the skid with a three-point play and five-straight points from Evan Crowe brought Taylor back to within 56-55 with five minutes to play, but TU could not sustain the rhythm, as Bethel held on for the road victory.

The Trojans finished the second half at 32.4 percent from the field and just two-of-15 from beyond the arc, while committing seven miscues and getting outrebounded by 10 in the final 20 minutes of action.

Crowe was the lone bright spot in the decisive half, scoring 13 points on five-of-10 shooting, while the rest of the TU lineup managed only 18 points on six-of-24 shooting and failed to connect from downtown in nine tries.

Crowe finished with a game-high 21 points and added six rebounds to lead TU in both categories, while Robinson ended with 17 points, five assists and two steals. Tim Fleming also reached double figures with 10 points on four-of-five shooting, while picking up three steals and Jake Heggeland collected four blocks.

Taylor falls to 12-9 overall and 3-6 in league play with the loss. The Trojans will look to bounce back when they host Grace (7-14, 0-9 CL) on Saturday in a 3:00 pm start.