APSU’s pivotal clash with Morehead State on Saturday, Feb. 16 quickly turned into the Terry Taylor show.
The sophomore finished the night with a career-high 42 points and 18 rebounds as the Govs survived the road trip to Morehead, Kentucky, with a 73-70 win.
The victory also assures the Govs a bye to at least the semifinal of the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Championship Tournament.
It took the 2018 OVC Freshman of the Year about two and a half minutes to get on the score sheet before Taylor finished the opening half with 20 points.
The second half saw Taylor continue his outstanding performance by finding another 22 points. However, if you have followed APSU basketball over the past few years you would know that Taylor’s impact is all over the court.
The sophomore had 12 rebounds in the second half alone, 10 of those being defensive boards.
Taylor’s scoring resulted in other Govs points dropping when compared to previous games, but two other Govs, Chris Porter-Bunton and Steve Harris managed to finish in double figures.
“The two guys I’ve depended on all year—Terry Taylor and Chris Porter-Bunton—refused to let us lose the game. I mean come on, 42 points and 18 rebounds? And Chris had 19 and was saddled with foul trouble and made big shots when he had to,” Head Coach Matt Figger told letsgopeay.com. “Those guys really, really stepped up. And Zach Glotta, I thought played really well but the stats aren’t going to show it.”
Porter-Bunton had 19 points in the second half alone. The red-shirt-senior also pushed out four assists in the win as well.
“I believed in him. He’s the vocal leader of our team, he’s the heart and soul when it comes to toughness and he drives me nuts sometimes. Since I stepped foot on this campus, me and that dude have a different relationship and nobody else in the world understands it,” Figger told letsgopeay.com. “We have a special bond—I’m an ornery dude, he’s an ornery dude and sometimes we butt heads but at the end of the day we both want the same thing.”
Despite the showcase put on by Taylor and Porter-Bunton, the Govs were locked in an elongated contest.
The Eagles, who were playing their fourth consecutive conference game at home, trailed APSU 33-32 at the break.
Morehead State’s opening half was led a 12-point performance by Jordan Walker.
Walker improved on that with 14 points in the second half, but it took a few minutes for the Eagles to find their footing.
APSU started the second half with a 17-3 run to help settle a sense of control that favored the visitors.
“To extend the lead, we did an unbelievable job coming out of the half guarding (Jordan) Walker. And then after we got the 15 point lead, well, here we go,” Figger told letsgopeay.com.
The starting 11 were the ones who dictated this game. APSU had only 1 point from the bench, that belonging to Jabari McGhee.
Zach Glotta also finished the night with one point as APSU only had five scorers on the court in the contest.
The win saw APSU’s 23-game run of finishing with 40 percent shooting end.
