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FEB.
11 — Goshen Drops Heartbreaker At #13 Taylor
Team
outplays Trojans for all but two minutes; lose in numbing
fashion 47-49 |
Upland, IN — The Goshen College men’s
basketball team never trailed at 13th-ranked Taylor University Saturday
afternoon.
That was, until the final buzzer sounded.
Goshen (13-15, 5-10) could not hang on to a dominating performance
in Upland, falling to the Mid-Central Conference rival Trojans by a 47-49
score in the most bizarre and unfortunate of endings. After leading by
as many as 14 points and never falling behind, Goshen could not last the
full 40 minutes, surrendering its first deficit on Taylor’s game-winning
layup at the final horn.
“As I have talked about all year, when you are in a position to
win you have to make some plays at both ends of the court,” said
Stan Daugherty, Goshen head coach. “Unfortunately, we made some
plays at the end but came up one play short.”
The Leafs’ first half Saturday was full of made plays, as Goshen
raced out to a 21-7 lead with just 9:36 to play in the period. A quick
seven to nothing spurt by the Trojans cut the lead to just 21-14 three
minutes later, but a seven to one Leafs’ run pushed the advantage
back to 13 points (a 28-15 advantage) with 4:41 to play in the half. Again
Taylor cut the lead to seven points with 2:40 remaining, but a three pointer
by junior David Haire — his fourth of the half — gave Daugherty’s
team a 31-21 lead with 1:49 on the clock. Taylor was able to connect on
a free throw at the 1:29 mark, as Goshen took a 31-22 lead into the locker
room at the half.
“The first half of basketball was a tremendous effort by our guys,” Daugherty
said. “We played hard and smart defensively and we moved the ball
on offense and hit some shots. It is never easy to score on Taylor,
especially at their place, but we moved the ball well and got some good
looks. I
liked how we battled in the post and made it tough for (Taylor
senior center Doug) Bell to score. (Taylor senior guard Eric) Ford had
to work
for all of his points and we contested most of their shots in
the first half.”
Goshen’s dominating performance continued for much of the second
period, as the Leafs answered each Taylor basket with scores
to keep a safe advantage. Daugherty’s team led by 10 points with 16:09 remaining
and by eight points with 12:49 to play, before Taylor finally started
to make a push. A rebound putback and a three-pointer by Ford cut Goshen’s
lead to just 38-35 with 11:00 on the clock, and when Goshen failed to
score on its next trip, a putback fieldgoal by Taylor made the score 38-37
with 10:11 remaining.
Daugherty called a timeout to calm his troops.
“We knew that they would make a run at us in the second half,” Daugherty
said. “All good teams do. I thought we had some pretty good looks
in the second half that we just missed. Taylor picked up its
defensive intensity, but I thought we still tried to be patient on offense
and do
the right things.”
Following the timeout, Daugherty’s team responded in a manner familiar
to Goshen fans: Junior Matt Crawford opened a nine-point scoring surge
with a three pointer at the 9:12 mark, helping Goshen to a 47-41 lead
with 2:52 remaining. A three-ball from senior Eric Walsh closed that run,
and it appeared that Goshen would survive with the win.
It was Bell that got free on Taylor’s next possession, however,
converting a basket and a free throw to cut the lead to just three points
(47-44 with 2:39 remaining). After Walsh missed the front end of a one-and-one
opportunity on the Leafs’ next possession, it was some Taylor magic
that tied the game. Following a stout defensive effort for nearly the
entire shot clock by Daugherty’s team, Taylor kicked the ball out
to seldom-scorer Josh Merrick for a three pointer.
It drained nothing but net, tying the game and sending the crowd
at Taylor’s Don J. Odle Gymnasium into a frenzy.
The teams would then trade a pair of possessions looking for
the go-ahead points, but neither could convert. Buller rimmed out a 15-foot
jump shot and Walsh came up just long on a wide-open, eight-foot jumper — two
plays that surrounded a huge taken charge from Walsh on the defensive
end.
Needing a defensive stop to send the game to overtime, Goshen
got it.
Following a Taylor timeout, the Leafs blocked a shot from Bell
in the post, the ball ricocheting off of Bell’s hands and out of
bounds with just 1.4 seconds remaining in the contest.
Out of timeouts and looking for one last chance before overtime,
Daugherty instructed Buller to throw the ball the length of the floor
on the inbounds pass from beneath Taylor’s basket.
Incredibly, Buller’s pass grazed a rafter on the arena’s ceiling,
giving Taylor the ball back underneath its own basket with no time elapsed
from the clock.
Following a Taylor timeout, Goshen again needed a stop, but couldn’t
get it. Miscommunication resulted in Merrick getting under the basket
for a layup attempt, winning the game as the final buzzer sounded amongst
pandemonium on the Taylor campus.
“I believe the key in the game was when we built a 47-41 lead
late,” Daugherty said. “If we score one more point we have
a great chance to win the game. We missed a free throw and a
couple of short jump shots that I would take anytime. We played decent
defensively,
but didn’t shut them down on every possession. Despite the loss,
I felt like overall it was our best game in weeks, especially
on the defensive end. I thought we outplayed Taylor for most of the game,
but not in the
final two minutes. As I told our guys in the locker room after
the game, we need to continue to improve this week in practice. We’re
still looking to play our best game of the year in the upcoming weeks.”
For the game, Goshen shot 34.7 percent from the floor (17 of
49) compared to Taylor’s 39.5 percent (17 of 43) but was hindered
by a five for 22 effort in the second half (22.7 percent). After knocking
in five of eight three pointers in the first period (62.5 percent), Goshen
only connected on two of six in the second half (33.3 percent). The team
outrebounded Taylor by a 34 to 31 count, but could not take advantage
of the free throw line as much as the home team (Goshen finished six of
10, 60 percent compared to Taylor’s 11 of 17, 64.7 percent).
Haire and Walsh led the way for Goshen in scoring, each finishing
with 12 points. Haire finished with an impressive four for five effort
from the three-point line, making all of his shots in the first period.
Buller ended with 10 points on four of 16 shooting, though two of those
misses came via the airball variety, after blatant fouls were not called.
Crawford added seven points on three of five shooting, while junior Willie
Frazier scored four points and sophomore Brice Hartman added two. Frazer
led the team in rebounding, grabbing nine total boards.
Goshen will next enjoy the conference bye on Tuesday, as the
team will prep for its final regular season game against Grace on Saturday
at the Roman Gingerich Center. Depending the outcome of that game and
other MCC contests, Goshen can finish anywhere from sixth to eighth in
the final league standings. The Leafs will honor its outstanding senior
class prior to tip-off Saturday. Game time is set for 3 p.m. For a complete
look at MCC standings and post-season tournament possibilities, click
here. |
  Junior
David Haire
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