Late Surge by No. 18 Marian Denies TU’s Upset Bid
INDIANAPOLIS – An ill-timed scoring drought cost Taylor in Saturday’s game at No. 18 Marian, as the Trojans went scoreless for 4:42 of game action deep into the affair and saw the host Knights rattle off 14-straight points to escape with the 82-78 win.
Both sides were red-hot in the opening half, with Marian (11-4, 7-4 CL) shooting 64.0 percent over the first 20 minutes and Taylor finishing at a blistering 69.6-percent rate.
The Knights had the better end of the score throughout much of the half however, until a late Taylor surge turned the tide. The Trojans used a 9-1 spurt to trim a nine-point MU lead down to one and later tied the game with a Kaden Fuhrmann triple. A deep trey from CJ Penha found the bottom of the net as time expired to give TU a 42-41 lead at the break.
Taylor closed the opening stanza on an 18-8 stretch over the final six minutes and carried that momentum over into the second half to build a six-point lead. A Vincent Miranda three, followed by a Jason Hubbard deuce opened a 53-47 Trojan lead with 15:37 to play.
To two teams battled evenly from there, with TU inching within range of a second win over a Top-25 foe in six days with a 71-67 edge with 5:21 showing on the clock.
Taylor went ice cold from there and did not score again until midway through the final minute when five-straight points from Fuhrmann snapped a game-changing, 14-0, Marian rally. The five Fuhrmann tallies narrowed the deficit to five points with 17 seconds to go but the Knights held on for the 82-78 victory.
TU shot the ball well for the game, finishing at a 56.9-percent rate despite the late dry spell. The Trojans buried 12-of-26 looks from deep but were hurt by 17 turnovers that led to an 11-0 advantage for the Knights in transition.
Fuhrmann had the hot hand throughout, setting a career-high with six triples in eight looks and netting a collegiate-best 20 points. Penha drained nine-of-13 shots, including four triples and closed with 26 points and Hubbard added 18 points, seven rebounds and two blocks
Taylor (11-9, 5-7 CL) is scheduled to open a three-game homestand on Wednesday at 7:00 pm against Mount Vernon Nazarene (5-9, 5-6 CL).
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