UPLAND, Ind. – The Spring Arbor University men's basketball team fell on the road, 69-59, Saturday afternoon at Taylor University.
Taylor used an 11-1 run at the start of the second to pull ahead, and the Trojans would never surrender their lead.
Brandon Durnell recorded a game-high 19 points and Paul Marandet followed with 17.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Spring Arbor 59, Taylor 69
LOCATION: Taylor University | Upland, Ind.
RECORDS: Spring Arbor 13-9 (4-6 CL), Taylor 12-10 (4-6 CL)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Spring Arbor raced out to an 8-2 advantage and would maintain the lead for the majority of the first half.
- Marandet put SAU up four, 26-22, with 3:04 to play in the opening period, but Taylor would hit a pair of 3-pointers down the stretch, including one by Ryan Robinson with 23 seconds left, to take a 30-28 lead heading into halftime.
- After an old-fashioned three-point play by Durnell in the opening seconds of the second half put the Cougars up by one, Taylor responded with a key 11-1 run.
- Spring Arbor trimmed the deficit to four with 3:39 remaining, but the Trojans answered with a 3-pointer by Mason Degenkolb and would hang on to complete the season sweep of the Cougars.
FOR THE COUGARS
- Durnell and Marandet paced Spring Arbor with 19 and 17 points, respectively. Durnell also added a team-high eight rebounds.
- Jeff Beckman chipped in 13 points going 6-for-7 from the field.
- Spring Arbor shot 48 percent (23-for-48) on the afternoon, but struggled from long range, going 2-for-12 from behind the 3-point line.
FOR THE TROJANS
- Four Taylor players reached double figures in scoring, led by Jason Hubbard's 18. CJ Penha recorded a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
- Taylor was held to 39 percent (23-for-59) shooting, but made eight 3-pointers and went a perfect 15-for-15 from the free throw line.
UP NEXT
Spring Arbor returns home to host Huntington University (10-12, 2-8 CL) on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m.
STAY CONNECTED: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
DOWNLOAD OUR APPS: iOS (iPhone/iPad) | Android