UPLAND, Ind. – Taylor squandered a late six-point lead in regulation before falling to No. 14 Huntington, 92-84 in overtime on Wednesday night inside Odle Arena.
A physical matchup between the Trojans and Foresters went to overtime after a frenetic finish to overtime saw a six-point lead with eight seconds remaining evaporate as Huntington hit a pair of triples, one at the buzzer to send it into an extra period.
Pete Combs had a breakaway dunk with eight seconds remaining, which seemed to put an emphatic end to a potential upset before late-game heroics for Huntington spoiled the night for Taylor.
The Trojans grabbed the momentum late in the second half when Kaden Fuhrmann splashed in a three and was fouled to stretch a slim one-point advantage to a 69-64 lead with just over two minutes left. The three-pointer was his 304th as a Trojan, moving him into third all-time in program history.
Huntington (21-6, 11-6 CL) came out after halftime and quickly pushed its lead to seven before TU fought back into the contest as the teams traded baskets.
Staring a four-point deficit in the eye, Taylor went on an 8-0 run, capitalized by a steal by Anton Webb, which in turn led to a runout, and he hammered home an alley-oop provided by Fuhrmann for a four-point advantage midway through the half.
The first half was a defensive battle, with each team seeing one player get hot and score to keep the game moving. Chaz Harvey was the focal point for TU and had 14 of his team-high 21 before the break. Harvey added eight rebounds, three assists, and a block to his stat line, in an impressive performance for the junior.
Both squads will rue chances at the charity stripe as Taylor made 16-26 while Hunting hit 15-25, both under 62 percent in a game, which went an extra five minutes.
Fuhrmann and Combs scored 13 a piece for Taylor, and Jackson Ullom was the final Trojan in double figures at 11. Webb was one point away at nine and led the team with nine rebounds while stuffing the stat sheet with two assists, blocks, and steals.
Taylor's bench outplayed their opposition, outscoring Huntington 22-6 and providing eight assists and four steals, with all five players giving significant contributions in a tight game.
The Trojans (14-13, 7-10 CL) finish the regular season with a matchup against No. 10 Bethel (20-7, 13-4 CL) on the road on Saturday, with tip set for 3:00 pm.
