Degenkolb Nets 1,500th-Career Point in Home Defeat

Hubbard Pump Fake and Dunk

UPLAND, Ind. – Mason Degenkolb continued his ascent up Taylor's all-time scoring charts on Tuesday, becoming the 19th player in TU men's basketball history to reach the 1,500-point mark but the Trojans' home shooting woes continued to plague them in an 81-70 loss to Grace.

Taylor overcame its perimeter shooting in the opening half, battling through a one-of-10 start from deep to draw even at 25-25 and then drilling three-of-six looks from beyond the arc during a 13-4 burst that gave TU a 38-29 cushion late into the opening stanza.

The Trojans limited Grace (6-3, 2-0 CL) to a 37.9-percent clip from the field in the first half, were plus-10 in rebounds and committed only three turnovers to overcome a four-of-18 rate from downtown and take a 38-32 lead at the break.

The Lancers turned it on over the final 20 minutes however, scoring seven of the first eight points out of the intermission to knot the score at 39-39 and then sinking three-straight triples to help open a 57-50 edge.

Kegan Owen's second trifecta of the evening was followed by a three-point play from Ryan Robinson to narrow the GC lead to a single point, but Grace followed with a 16-6 stretch to push the gap to double figures and went on to finish off the 11-point win.

The final 20 minutes belonged to Grace, as the guests shot 57.7 percent from the floor and hit six-of-12 looks from three-point range while outrebounding Taylor by nine and outscoring the Trojans by a 49-32 spread.

Taylor finished just 40.9 percent from the floor and 24.1 percent from outside, while falling to 1-4 inside Odle Arena on the year.

Degenkolb scored 13 points to climb to 1,502 for his career and matched a single-game high with eight rebounds in the contest. Robinson added 14 points and CJ Penha posted his sixth double-double of the season with 12 points, 13 rebounds and three assists.

Jason Hubbard continued his strong all-around play by swatting a career-high seven blocks and adding seven points and one steal, with Owen ending two-of-two from the floor for six points.

Taylor (5-4, 0-2 CL) will play in the 23rd-Annual Ivanhoes Silent Night Game on Friday at 6:00 pm, when it takes on Ohio Chillicothe. The Trojans are 21-1 all-time on Silent Night. Tickets for the game remain available online at TaylorTrojans.com/SilentNightTickets19 until noon on Thursday, December 5.