GOSHEN, Ind. — Tahj Curry scored 19 points and Phillip Hughes added a career-high 17 as both men played 38 minutes Tuesday night in a fast-paced 84-76 victory by the Goshen College men's basketball team over East-West University in Gunden Gymnasium.
Michael Bowers added 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including four of Goshen's seven 3-pointers, and Colin Flowers chipped in 14. Kedrick Bibby led all players with 13 rebounds and finished one point shy of making it five Maple Leafs in double figures.
Curry led Goshen (1-0) with 5 assists and 4 steals. Bibby took the ball away three times and Hughes, Bowers and Flowers each had two steals apiece. Curry and Hughes both blocked shots.
The Phantoms (1-2) got a game-high 28 points from Brandon Daughtry, who played every second before fouling out with 1:16 remaining. He shot 9-of-19 from the floor and 10-of-11 at the foul line to go with 5 steals.
East-West forced 19 takeaways but turned the ball over 28 times and went 1-for-16 from 3-point land.
Kalu Idika scored 13 points and Rodney Gaston had 9 to go with 10 rebounds, which led the team.
"That was a wild basketball game," said Goshen coach Jon Tropf. "Give East-West credit for taking us out of what we do in the second half. That being said, I am so proud of our resilience. We overcame a lot in this game."
After trading baskets for the first 5 minutes, Goshen used a reverse old-fashioned 3-point play from Bibby to go on a 13-0 run over less than 3 minutes, leading 21-8 with 12 minutes left. The Phantom offense went without a bucket for more than 5 minutes as the lead ballooned to 17.
Goshen led by as many as 19 points on a Parker Sullivan triple with 7:21 remaining. They would match that margin with a pair of Curry foul shots late in the first half and led 47-29 at recess.
Bowers' triple three minutes into the second half made it 55-31, and the high-water point for the Goshen lead came with 13:25 left at 61-34.
Just when it seemed the game might be over, the Phantoms had other ideas, scoring 10 straight points. They shut down Goshen's offense for more than four and a half minutes, allowing one field goal and getting the margin back to 5 at 69-64 with 5:56 left.
After buckets by Hughes and Bibby, Goshen scored its last 11 points at the foul line, going 11-for-14 in the last 5 minutes. The Phantoms never got closer than four points: after scoring to cut the lead to 79-74 with 1:26 to go, they forced a turnover, but Braden Kingery drew a charge on the ensuing possession, which led to an EWU technical in frustration and the Maple Leafs pulled away.
"I want to highlight Braden making the play of the game, taking a charge with the game on the line," said Tropf. "He's been waiting four years for an opportunity like that, and I couldn't be more proud of him."
The teams combined for 66 fouls, including five technical fouls, along with 57 turnovers and 92 free-throw attempts.
Goshen shot 52 percent (14-of-27) from the floor in the first half before falling off to 41 percent (9-for-22) in the second.
GC is back in action on Monday night when it hosts Lawrence Technological University at 7 p.m.
