Taylor Prevails Over Goshen in Triple-Overtime Classic Featuring Two Buzzer Beaters

UPLAND, Ind. – Trailing by six points to Goshen with 31 seconds remaining in regulation, the Taylor men's basketball team (11-6, 4-3 CL) put together a comeback for the ages in a triple-overtime, 110-102 win Saturday afternoon inside Odle Arena.

Anton Webb delivered a monstrous performance littered with clutch shots and defensive heroics, leading to a jaw-dropping line of 33 points, 20 rebounds, five assists and three blocks across 49 minutes of action.

TU trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half with eight minutes left, and the home team seemed destined to fall when a pair of Trojan three-pointers were missed in the waning 75 seconds, while a pair of Leaf free throws extended the visitors' lead to 78-72 with 31 ticks to play.

Four seconds later, the comeback was on with Nate Paarlberg hitting a quick, top-of-the-key three to get Taylor within a single possession. A 30-second timeout allowed Izaiah Day to enter the game for defensive purposes, and a blink of an eye later, Day had the ball all alone in the paint following a GC pass from the corner facing a Taylor double team.

Day made the layup to make it a one-point game, which turned into a two-point Goshen lead after a 1-for-2 trip to the line for the Leafs.

Trailing 79-77, head coach Austin Peters drew up a backdoor cut for a red-hot Kaden Fuhrmann, who tied the game on layup with the bounce pass dished out by Chaz Harvey. GC pushed the ball up the floor and was able to get into the paint for a last-second shot, but Webb swatted the layup attempt off the backboard to send the game into overtime, 79-all.

The Trojans were again on the ropes with 4.0 seconds to go in the first overtime following a tough Goshen jumper that gave it the lead, 89-87.

Peters again drew up a play during a timeout to extend the game – this time for Webb, who positioned himself deep in the paint on a pass from Paarlberg, spun, drop-stepped with his left foot and banked in a right-handed layup as the horn sounded to bring upon overtime number two.

Webb started that overtime period with an alley-oop dunk set up by Fuhrmann, though Goshen stayed hot to take a 96-94 lead with 1:12 left. Webb went right back to work with an and-one layup that gave TU the lead, which was extended to 98-96 with 16 seconds to play in the second overtime.

That's when the Maple Leafs (5-12, 0-7 CL) sent the thriller to a third overtime with a buzzer-beater of their own on Marcus Northern's near-impossible 15-foot fallaway jumper from the right wing.

The home-Purple and Grey were able to collect themselves and dominate the third extra session, however, as Webb once again came up huge with two layups, two blocks and a three-pointer in the period as Taylor sprinted to the marathon finish line victoriously on a 12-4 burst.

The Maple Leafs, who were led by Richard Wilson's season-high 31 points, were red-hot from three-point range on the day, improving on an already-blistering 7-of-14 first half from deep to go 7-of-9 in the second half, which made it difficult for TU to keep pace.

Harvey kept the Trojan offense churning just enough early and often, though, with a season-high 10 assists that complemented 14 points to largely maintain Taylor's small deficit.

Fuhrmann caught fire with 17 second-half points after being held scoreless through the opening 20 minutes. The senior also connected on two much-needed treys in the first overtime and finished his night with 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-11 from three.

Jackson Ullom and Paarlberg finished with an efficient 10 points apiece, with the pair both knocking down two triples and making a combined eight clutch free throws.

A combined eight players, including TU's entire starting five, logged at least 40 minutes in the instant classic.

Taylor looks to catch its breath and collect its third straight win when it travels to No. 17 Huntington (12-4, 2-4 CL) on Wednesday, Jan. 15, with the opening tip set for 7:30 p.m.