GOSHEN, Ind. — Tahj Curry and Austin Branagan each hit the 20-point mark Saturday afternoon, but the Goshen College men's basketball team came up short 83-71 in its upset bid of Mount Vernon Nazarene University in each school's return to Crossroads League action at Gunden Gymnasium.

Michael Bowers added 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting to go with a team-high 6 rebounds for the Maple Leafs (4-12, 0-4). Curry added 5 assists to lead all players. Alex Johnson grabbed a game-high 13 assists for the Cougars (15-1, 3-1).

Mount Vernon Nazarene got at least 8 points from all five starters and put four players in double figures, led by Jevon Knox with 21 points and Austin Jones with 19. Jones went 6-of-8 from the floor and drained a game-high 5 free throws. Jacob Paul added 15 points and Johnson scored 11 to finish his double-double.

The Cougars shot 52 percent (31-for-60) to Goshen's 44 percent (28-for-63). MVNU made 11 triples to Goshen's 8 on 26 attempts apiece and outrebounded the Maple Leafs 39-25.

Neither team led by more than 3 points in the first half until an 8-0 run put the Cougars up 27-21 with 6:16 remaining, and then Goshen promptly scored 7 straight points to take the lead back at 28-27 just inside the 4-minute mark. The teams traded buckets for three possessions before Knox and Isaac White sank 3s to put the road team up 39-34 at intermission.

The Cougars stayed hot coming out of the locker room, scoring 9 straight points as part of a 12-4 run that stretched the lead into double figures with 14:49 remaining. With the exception of a Goshen run to pull within 69-60, that margin remained in the low double figures for the rest of the afternoon.

Curry scored 12 of his points in the final 20 minutes while playing every second of the second half, racking up 4 assists without a turnover. Branagan added 8 points on 4-of-7 shooting and the Maple Leafs shot 47 percent with 6 3-pointers.

MVNU got 12 points apiece from Knox and Paul as well as 11 from Jones after halftime. The Cougars went 9-of-12 at the foul line in that span; Goshen got one attempt and Branagan made it.

The lead changed hands 16 times with 5 ties over the course of the game.

The road doesn't get much easier for the Maple Leafs this week, as Goshen stays home but faces NAIA Division II No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan University on Tuesday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.