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01.05.08 -
After trailing most of
the first half, the Trojans of Taylor University (14-4, 3-1) took
control of the game in the second and held off a late Forester charge
to upset NAIA 12th-ranked Huntington University (12-5, 2-2)
68-65.
The Foresters used a
7-0 spurt midway through the first period to turn a 9-9 tie into a
16-9 advantage at the 10:42 mark. HU took its biggest lead of the
game at 21-13 on a driving lay-up by Tyler Shively with 7:38 to go in
the half. Taylor then put together an 8-0 run to knot the score at 21
with just under six minutes to play and the half finished dead even at
28-28.
The second half belonged to the Trojans as they jumped out to an
11-point lead five minutes into the period. The margin increased to
as many as 14 at 54-40 at the 7:38 mark and Taylor was still up 11
with under a minute to play when the Foresters made one last run.
Doug Sheckler hit two of three free throws to cut it to nine with 31
seconds left. Taylor’s Daniel Cox made one of two charity tosses and
HU’s Luke Smith made good on a traditional three-point play at the
other end to cut it to seven with :19 on the clock. Following a
Trojan turnover, Smith again was fouled on his 3-point attempt and hit
two of three to pull HU within five. Two Cox free throws put Taylor
back up by seven with 14 ticks left. Sheckler quickly cut it to 66-62
with a three and then the Foresters sent Bret Burchard to the line.
Burchard missed the first but hit the second with 10 seconds to go and
Sheckler buried another three to pull the Foresters within 67-65 with
six seconds left. Following a HU foul, Jacob Bream hit the first and
missed the second to give Taylor a 68-65 lead and Smith’s three-point
attempt at the buzzer was off the mark.
HU’s Sheckler took game-high honors with 26 points in the contest. He
was joined in double figures by Smith with 15. Chad Reynolds paced
the Trojans with 24 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Cox
chipped in 12 points and four assists.
Box Score
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