The teams played close in the opening minutes of the contest and Indiana Wesleyan led 12-8 with 12 minutes four seconds to play before the break. But IWU was unable to find the bucket for the next six and a half minutes. In that time, the Trojans recorded 11 points to capture a 19-12 advantage.

Indiana Wesleyan junior guard Antonio Murrell finally broke the drought with a pair of free throws with 5:23 left in the half and Taylor leading 19-14.

After a Trojan basket, Murrell hit a 3-pointer at 4:48. It was the first Wildcat field goal since 12:04. Taylor led 21-17.

Taylor (20-11) regained their largest lead of the opening stanza at 7 with a 26-19 lead. But Indiana Wesleyan responded with six of the final eight points before intermission. The Trojans took a 28-25 lead into the locker room.

After trading baskets to open the half, Taylor charged to a 15-3 run to open up a 45-33 advantage with 9:56 left to play.

Taylor garnered their largest lead of the contest at 13 points when the Trojans led 50-37 and 6:13 to go. But Indiana Wesleyan cut into the deficit with a 7-0 run as Taylor led 50-44 and 3:38 remaining.

Indiana Wesleyan (20-10) was unable to capitalize as the Wildcats could not score over the next 2:20 as Taylor pushed their lead to 54-44 and 1:18 on the clock.

Taylor never let the lead slip below six points in the final minute to earn the 60-53 victory.

Indiana Wesleyan shot a meager 31.4-percent (16 of 51) from the field and 31.6-percent (6 of 19) from beyond the arc. Taylor had eight players in the scoring column as Indiana Wesleyan only had four.

IWU freshman forward Will Hubertz scored a game-high 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Murrell added 20 points and was 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Sophomore center Zach Coverstone chipped in with seven points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots.

Taylor was led by forward Kyle Pickett and guard Daniel Cox with 14 points a piece.