Second-Half Shooting Woes Lead to Road Defeat

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – After hanging with No. 25 Olivet Nazarene (1-0) throughout the first half, shooting woes doomed the Trojans to a lopsided defeat in their first road game of the year. 

Anton Webb led five Trojans in double figures with 14 points and seven boards on the evening. Jackson Ullom was potent off the bench with ten points, a career-high six steals, three rebounds, and a trio of triples. The sophomore guard was one of two on the bench to go for double digits, as Grant Niehaus joined him with an efficient 12 points on five shots, as he hit six free throws on the night and grabbed six boards. 

Taylor saw three players combine to make its first four threes of the evening to jump out to an early 16-8 lead over the Tigers. The Trojans continued to play aggressively and took their largest lead after a four-point play was converted by Ullom less than ten minutes into the contest. 

No. 25 Olivet Nazarene continued to close the gap in the first half until taking a 34-33 lead with four minutes remaining in the half. TU missed its final six shots of the half and turned the ball over three times to go into the break down 40-35. Webb had another outstanding half of basketball, collecting 12 points and seven rebounds before halftime. 

The late half swing carried over in the second, with the Trojans going scoreless until the 16:01 mark on a triple by Ullom. TU could not recover, and the game got out of hand, with the final score reading 88-66. 

The Trojans struggles shooting were highlighted by a 32.8 percent mark from the field and 28.1 percent from beyond the arc, while the Tigers feasted down low, outscoring TU 56-18 in the paint and made 15 more shots from the field on the same number of attempts.

Taylor (1-1) stays on the road to play in the Rochester Classic, which begins Friday, November 3, with a matchup against Cleary (Mich.) (0-0) at 7:30 pm. TU has a quick turnaround to play RV Rochester (1-0) on Saturday, November 4, 1ith tip-off at 1:00 pm.