Taylor Leads Linfield Past Concordia, 91-79

Joel Paul and K.C. Wiser each added 12 points for the Wildcats.

Taylor, who played at South Salem, had the hot hand from outside the 3-point line, connecting on four long bombs.

McMINNVILLE, Ore. - Steve Taylor sank 9 of 11 shots from the field on his way to game-high 24 points as the Linfield Wildcats ran past the Concordia Cavaliers 91-79 in nonconference basketball action Saturday night at Ted Wilson Gymnasium.

Taylor paced a solid wire-to-wire victory for NCAA Division III member Linfield (3-1), which won its home opener by double digits over the NAIA Cavaliers (2-2).

Taylor netted a dozen points in the first half, sinking 5 of 7 shots. The Wildcats shot .563 in the period to the Cavaliers’ .379.

Linfield led 24-14 after Taylor pasted his second successive 3-pointer with 9:33 left in the first half. The Wildcats led 42-30 at the break.

Aided by back-to-back buckets by Cody Aker, Concordia closed to within six during the opening four minutes of the second half. But the Wildcats kept the pressure on, outscoring the vistors 41-35 the rest of the way.

Three Cavs logged double figures in the scoring column, including 19 points from Ryan Johnson, 16 from Steven Vaughan, and 13 by Aker.

Taylor had the hot hand from outside the 3-point line, connecting on four long bombs. Joel Paul and K.C. Wiser each added 12 points and Brian Murphy finished with 10 points on 4 of 8 shooting.

Linfield outrebounded Concordia by a 39-32 count as all but one Wildcat who played collared at least one rebound. Aker pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. Wiser, Taylor, Cody Tesoro, Ryan Chisolm and Drew Schroeder each had five caroms to lead the hosts on the backboards.

The Wildcats visit Warner Pacific Tuesday night for a nonconference game against the NAIA-affiliated Knights.

Concordia travels to Kirkland, Wash., next Saturday to face Cascade Conference foe Northwest.

Source: Linfield Athletics

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