Men’s Basketball Blows Past Taylor on Senior Day

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio. – The Mount Vernon Nazarene University men's basketball team (17-11, 9-9 CL) hosted Taylor University (19-9, 11-7 CL) on Saturday, February 21 on its senior day. Redshirt senior, Trent Koning, was honored at the start of the game for his five years as an MVNU Cougar. 

At the start of the first half, Peyton Heiss scored eight points to push MVNU to an early 11-7 lead. Taylor would tie the score once in the first half at 13:40, but a layup from Devin Dreier would put the Cougars back on top at 14-12. MVNU would continue to build its lead to go into half on top 31-26. 

Abib Abib's made layup ignited the Cougars' offense early in the second half, making the score 33-26. MVNU would hit its largest lead of the game at 9:20 left in the game after Heiss made two free throws, putting it up 56-37. Another free throw would be MVNU's last score of the game, which would end with the Cougars winning 72-59. 

Heiss led the MVNU offense, scoring 18 points. Heiss added five rebounds, four assists, and one steal. Isaiah Brown scored 13 points, had two assists, one rebound, one steal, and one block. Abib added 12 points, seven rebounds, one steal, and one block. Koning came away with 11 points, four assists, two rebounds, and two steals. MVNU finished shooting 43.4% from the field, 43.8% from the three-point line, and 82.6% at the free throw line. The Cougars caused 11 Taylor turnovers, scoring 14 points from them. MVNU played tremendous defense, holding Taylor to just 39.7% shooting from the floor and 26.7% from three. 

Coach Ronai's Thoughts 

"Incredibly proud of our group and their intentionality on the defensive end of the floor today. Really proud of Trent Koning, our lone senior. He has led this young group well all year long through the ups and downs of a college basketball season. We're grateful for a great environment as always inside Ariel Arena. We're excited to get better on Monday." 

What's Next 

MVNU will be the No. 6 seed going into the Crossroads League Tournament, with the first round starting on Wednesday, February 25. MVNU will travel to take on No. 3 seed, Huntington University, in Huntington, Indiana, starting at 7:00 p.m. 

Mount Vernon Nazarene University is a private, intentionally Christian teaching university for traditional age students, graduate students, and working adults. With a 327-acre main campus in Mount Vernon, Ohio, MVNU emphasizes academic excellence, spiritual growth, and service to community and church. MVNU offers an affordable education both in-seat and online to nearly 2,200 students from 36 states, 1 U.S. commonwealth and 41 foreign countries.