Balanced Attack Fuels Dominant Second-Half Surge in Big Win Over Goshen

GOSHEN, Ind. – After heading into the break deadlocked at 27, Taylor's offense came alive and torched the Maple Leafs for a commanding 80-55 victory on Saturday afternoon, in which six Trojans scored between eight and 13 points.

An individual 7-0 run by Nate Paarlberg, who scored nine in the game, precluded a 10-0 run to put TU in complete control with a 46-32 lead and just over 13 minutes remaining in the contest.

Taylor completely dominated from there, stretching the lead to as big as 27 as the team shot over 58 percent from the field and over 57 percent from beyond the arc in the second stanza. The Trojans splashed home eight threes and went 11-15 from the charity stripe in the half to score 53 points.

The first half saw TU grab an early lead until the offense dried up and Goshen scored six straight points to take a 15-10 lead, which they held until the final minute of the opening half.

Pete Combs led the squad with 13 points and nine rebounds, in 17 minutes of action off the bench for the sophomore big man. Combs added a pair of blocks and an assist in a terrific display down low.

Anton Webb, Kaden Fuhrmann, and Jackson Ullom joined Combs in double digits with 12, 12, and 10. Webb stuffed the stat sheet with six rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and two steals while Fuhrmann added six boards and three assists.

The Trojans crashed the glass and outrebounded Goshen (5-21, 0-16 CL) 43-21 while shooting 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point land as the offense found its groove and exploded in the second half.

The victory clinched a berth to the CL Tournament for the Trojans, who currently sit in sixth, one game behind fifth and two ahead of a pair of squads tied for seventh.

Taylor (14-12, 7-9 CL) begins the final week of the regular season with its final home game on Wednesday, February 19, against No. 14 Huntington (20-6, 10-6 CL), with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 pm.