Photographs by Timothy P. Riethmiller
By Will Fairfax
The mens basketball team's 7 game winning streak was snapped as they lost a nail biter 53-48 to Spring Arbor at Odle Arena.
The first half was a back and forth affair with neither team having more than a four point lead. The Trojans were down at halftime 29-26.
Down 31-26 at the beginning of the second half the Trojans went on a 8-0 run to give them a 34-31 lead. The Cougars responded with a 10-0 run to give them a 41-34 lead.
Taylor was resiliently led by Senior Nate Kasper who had a layup, jumper, block, and drew a charge to help the Trojans get back into the game. Kasper was the NAIA DII National player of the week last week.
Down 47-42 Senior Casey Coons hit a floater to narrow the Cougars lead to 3. Junior Ben Raichel then made a sweet bounce pass to Kasper who finished the play with a layup to narrow the Cougars lead to 1 with 39.9 seconds remaining.
Taylor missed the front end of a 1 and 1 and Spring Arbor took advantage by increasing their lead to 3.
Kasper narrowed the lead to 1 with a layup, but ultimately it was not enough as the Cougars hit their free throws down the stretch to give them a 53-48 victory.
Kasper led the scoring for the Trojans with 21 points along with 6 rebounds. Coons had 11 points and led the team with 3 assists. Junior Josh Riikonen led Taylor with 10 rebounds.
The loss drops Taylor to 19-8 overall and 11-4 in conference and it is their first loss in nearly a month.
