Crossroads League Championships Central
MISHAWAKA, Ind. – Taylor battled No. 10 Bethel tightly throughout a rematch of the regular season finale and came up just short in a 77-69 defeat in the Crossroads League Quarterfinals, ending the season for the Trojans.
The squads traded runs, and TU had a 17-15 lead after Kobe Funderburk splashed in a three-pointer after Chaz Harvey poured in a quick six points early in the first half. Harvey finished the game with 16 points and dished out three assists in the season finale.
Bethel (22-7, 14-4 CL) started to flex its muscles down low and slowly stretched their lead to 34-27 with less than five minutes left in the opening half.
Anton Webb scored his first point of the game with three-and-a-half minutes remaining in the first half to begin an 8-1 run to tie the game at 35, with Webb hitting a shot from beyond the arc and a free-throw for six of the team's eight points. Webb continued his stat-sheet-stuffing season with 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and one steal and block apiece.
Taylor cut the lead to one when Kaden Fuhrmann splashed in a triple to make the score 43-42. Fuhrmann had a team-high 18 points, which placed him in a tie for 13th in career points with 1,690 in his five-year career at TU.
Bethel stretched the lead to double digits and looked to be in cruise control to advance to the semifinals until the Trojans woke up midway through the second half.
Looking down at the reality of their careers ending, Fuhrmann and Webb got help from Harvey to jump into a key 14-4 run for its first lead since the 10:51 mark in the first half. The trio scored 12 of the points and made sure the game would come down to the final five minutes of action.
Unfortunately, the offense stalled with just under four minutes left as TU scored one point from that moment forward, and the Pilots ran away with the vital victory.
Taylor outscored the Pilots 32-28 inside the paint and shot well at 51.9 percent from the field. Those numbers weren't enough to overcome a massive rebounding disadvantage, with Bethel grabbing 20 more rebounds in the contest.
The Trojans (14-15, 7-11 CL) end the season with the best winning percentage since the 2019-20 season in head coach Austin Peters' first season on the bench.
