Kyle Davis, a senior, led the Goshen men’s basketball team with 16 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Leafs fell to the Taylor Trojans 87-71 on Saturday, Jan. 19. Davis finished serving a three-game suspension against Spring Arbor a week earlier, and his running 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer electrified the home crowd in his first home game since Jan. 3.
“I was really excited to come back and play on the home floor,” Davis said of his return to play. “I missed playing with the team. I was happy to be out there working hard for a win.”The Maple Leafs worked hard to prove that they were not going down without a fight. Goshen’s offense was balanced with four players in double figures. After Davis, Tavo Parral, a senior, tallied 14 points; Matt Glick, a junior, scored 12; and Mathew Martin, a senior, added 11. While the team worked hard to put points up on offense, they struggled to hold their own on defense.
“Several times we would cut [the deficit] to four or six, but couldn’t get over the hump. They capitalized on several 50-50 balls that broke our backs. When we moved the ball we got good looks, but in a couple key stretches we were impatient offensively and bailed them out,” said coach Gary Chupp of his team’s play.
The Leafs finished with a season-low of six turnovers, and their 28 field goals were the most since Dec. 28. In the end, the Leafs were unable to hold the Trojans, surrendering 58-percent shooting from the floor. Goshen’s struggle on defense won the game for the opposing team and Taylor’s height proved to be in their favor.
The Goshen College Maple Leafs are now 7-14 overall in their season and 0-10 in the Crossroads League.
