HUNTINGTON, Ind. – A big early lead led Taylor (4-4, 1-2 CL) to its first Crossroads League victory of the season, topping RV Huntington (7-2 ,2-1 CL) by a score of 81-68.
A torrent of seven dunks from the duo of Jason Hubbard and Anton Webb put the exclamation mark on the win in the second half. Hubbard led the Trojans with 25 points and added eight rebounds and a team-leading six assists. Webb contributed 15 points and owned the glass, pulling down a career-best 15 boards for TU.
Grant Niehaus and Gavin Yoon added double-figure scoring efforts in the victory, with 16 apiece.
The Trojans came out of the tip with more energy, leading to a 14-2 lead after four-plus minutes fueled by two triples from Hubbard.
Taylor continued to hold an advantage throughout the first half, though an 11-0 run by the Foresters in a span of two minutes closed the gap to two with four and a half minutes remaining.
A Webb transition dunk capped a 7-2 run to close the half and send Taylor to the locker room with a 36-29 lead.
The Trojans pushed the lead to as many as 12 early in the second half, after a sequence that included three dunks by Webb in under four minutes of action.
Taylor continued to score easily, capitalized by two more dunks in quick succession, this time by Hubbard that forced a Huntington timeout with the score 68-52 in the Trojans' favor.
Two buckets by Niehaus then stretched the Trojan lead to 18, which was the largest of the evening.
Huntington put the press on to attempt a comeback, but the Trojans kept the lead over 12 the rest of the way as the game finished 81-68.
TU controlled the glass, grabbing 45 boards, which included ten offensive rebounds, compared to just 29 from the Foresters.
The defense was equally impressive from the Trojans, as they held Huntington to 22 points below their season average and shot 16.7 percent from three-point range.
Taylor will look to continue this momentum in Crossroads-League action on Saturday, December 3, against RV Bethel (7-2, 2-1 CL), in Mishawaka, with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 pm.
