WESTVILLE, Ind. – Despite a furious comeback effort in the final 13 minutes, the Purdue University Northwest men's basketball team could never gain the lead in a 68-67 setback to visiting Taylor University Friday night at the James B. Dworkin Student Services & Activities Center.

Torrance Johnson (Chicago Heights, Ill./Chicago Hope Academy) (Chicago Heights, Ill./Chicago Hope Academy) led PNW scorers with 15 points and 10 rebounds, Tanner Keuhn (Munster, Ind./Munster) had 14 points and six boards, Tyree Coe (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) added 13 points and Mike Williams (Gary, Ind./Lew Wallace) (Gary, Ind./Lew Wallace) chipped in 12 points in the loss.

The Pride (1-2) return to action Saturday in the final day of the James B. Dworkin Tip-Off Classic, taking on No. 3 Davenport (2-0) at 4 p.m. CT.

PNW trailed by as many as 18 (54-36) with 13:16 to play before going on a 20-1 run to cut Taylor's lead to just one, 55-56 at the 6:33 mark.

Keuhn – who finished 6-of-7 from the field to go along with six boards – had three tough layups in that stretch and Coe drained two 3's. Coe's runner brought the Pride within one, but Taylor (3-0) would answer with a triple of their own by Evan Crowe.  

Trailing by three with 43 seconds left, Chandler Spring (Covington, Ind./Covington) (Covington, Ind./Covington) drained a huge trifecta from the wing to tie the game at 65-all, but Taylor's Ryan Robinson would go on to drain two ensuing free throws to put the Trojan's back on top.

After a pair of Max Clifford (Franklin, Ind./Roncalli) (Franklin, Ind./Roncalli) free throws to bring PNW within one with seven seconds left, Robinson left the door open with a missed free throw, but William's runner wouldn't fall at the buzzer to seal it ofr Taylor.

The Trojans led at the half, 41-25, behind 43.2 percent shooting from the field. For the game, Taylor shot 39.4 percent (26-of-66) from the floor and 28.1 percent (9-of-32) from 3-point land compared to 37.7 percent (23-of-61) and 23.5 percent (4-of-17) for PNW.

The Pride struggled from the free-throw line, making 17-of-27 (63 percent) compared to Taylor's 7-of-15 (46.7 percent). Rebounds were nearly even, with PNW winning the battle on the boards, 47-41.

Keaton Hendricks scored 18 points and Eric Cellier added 14 for Taylor in the win.