Trojans Defeat Cross-County Rival No. 16 IWU in Thrilling Overtime Contest

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MARION, Ind. – Taylor (14-15, 7-11 CL) overcame a hostile atmosphere, a tough opponent, and everything else thrown its way to grab its first win in 11 years, 78-74, against cross-county rival No. 16 Indiana Wesleyan (20-9, 14-4 CL) in overtime.

The back-and-forth affair ended streaks on both sides of the ball. Before Wednesday IWU had not lost in the Crossroads League Tournament Quarterfinals, and Taylor had not won a road game in the Crossroads League Tournament since 2013.

Jason Hubbard once again led the Trojans with 24 points and 16 rebounds for his twelfth double-double of the season while adding two blocks and three steals. Anton Webb was phenomenal, continuing his upward trend late this season, securing a double-double with 17 points and 13 boards. Gavin Yoon and Kaden Fuhrmann joined the double-digit scoring party with 11 and 12 points respectively.

The Wildcats grabbed an early lead, but Taylor quickly got back into the matchup and tied the game at 12 on a three-pointer by Yoon.

After IWU extended the lead to three, Hubbard stole a pass and raced down to throw down a dunk that cut the lead to one.

Taylor grabbed its first lead midway through the opening half at 19-17 on a Jackson Lewis three-pointer.

IWU continued to answer every time the Trojans tied or took the lead and then extended the lead to six, which was the largest of the night for the Wildcats, with five-and-a-half minutes remaining in the half.

TU went on a 7-0 run to retake the lead, capped by a triple from Jackson Ullom that got the Taylor faithful on their feet.

Hubbard grabbed an offensive rebound and drained a jumper at the buzzer, which gave TU a one-point lead heading into the locker room.

The game was tied at 39 after a minute of play after the intermission before the Trojans scored six straight points to grab their first lead of more than two.

IWU fought back to take a 52-51 lead, but Taylor responded once again with an 8-0 run to grab a seven-point lead, the largest for either team throughout the game.

The Wildcats slowly worked their way closer before tying the game with just over a minute left in regulation.

Neither team found the winning basket in regulation, with IWU missing two opportunities in the final ten seconds.

Each team struggled to find points at the beginning of overtime, but the Wildcats struck first to take a two-point lead.

Webb began to take over, scoring the next eight points for TU, with six of them coming from the charity stripe that helped TU grab a four-point edge.

After an IWU basket, Hubbard was fouled and drained both free throws to push Taylor's lead to four again and secure the victory.

Rebounding was a deciding factor in Taylor's favor, grabbing 42 boards compared to 34 for IWU, which generated 19 second-chance points for the Trojans.

Taylor will face off against No. 15 Huntington (23-6, 14-4 CL) in the Crossroads League Semifinals on Saturday, February 25, on the road, with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 pm.