Hendricks Nets 1,300th-Career Point in Home Loss

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UPLAND, Ind. – Keaton Hendricks became the 29th men's basketball player in Taylor history to reach 1,300 points with his third triple of the game on Saturday, but Grace erased an 11-point first-half deficit in the 80-78 contest and handed TU its third-straight home defeat.

Hendricks entered the contest nine points shy of the 1,300 point mark and nailed all three of his looks from beyond the arc to hit the mark, becoming TU's first player to reach 1,300 points since NAIA All-American, Kyle Stidom (2013-2016), did so during the 2015-2016 campaign.

Hendricks finished with nine points and six boards, while Mason Degenkolb led the Trojans with 20 points for his fifth game of at least 20 points this season and the 17th of his two year career with the Purple and Gold. Degenkolb filled out the box score with six rebounds, three assists and one steal, while Ryan Robinson dished out a career-high 10 assists to go with nine points and Evan Crowe chipped in 10 points and six rebounds.

The Trojans shot nine-of-20 from deep and led throughout much of the contest, but connected on only 11-of-17 tries from the free throw line and got outrebounded by 13.

Grace (8-14, 1-9 CL) overpowered TU on the interior, pulling down 16 offensive rebounds and posting a 14-0 advantage in second-chance points to turn the game in its favor. The Lancers also outscored Taylor, 44-36, in the paint and shot 14-of-25 from two-point range over the final 20 minutes, en route to piling up a 47-38 scoring edge in the final stanza to seal the comeback.

Despite the struggles in the post, Taylor opened a game-high lead of 34-23 on back-to-back triples off the hands of Hendricks and carried a 40-33 cushion to the intermission.

A 9-0 spurt from the guests gave Grace its first lead since midway through the opening period and another 8-1 stretch by GC followed five-straight points from Crowe and put the Trojans in a 67-64 deficit with 7:11 to play.

Hendricks recorded his 1,300th point on a game-tying trey at the 5:10 mark and a three-point play from Degenkolb again drew Taylor even at 72-72 with 3:37 showing on the clock.

The Trojans took a two-point lead on three separate occasions over the final 3:17 of game action, including a 78-76 edge on a deuce from Robinson, but Grace score the final four points over the last 90 seconds of play to take the victory.

Taylor (12-10, 3-7 CL) will look to right the ship when it heads north for a clash with No. 13 Spring Arbor (18-4, 6-4 CL) on Tuesday, January 23 at 7:00 pm. TU topped SAU by a 90-82 margin in the first meeting between the two programs this season back on November 28.