Celebrating bad basketball in Iowa

[Scott M]

Grinnell guard erupts for record 138

by Myron Medcalf, ESPN

Grinnell's Jack Taylor didn't just amend the NCAA's record books when he scored 138 points -- a new collegiate high mark -- in his team's 179-104 victory over Faith Baptist Bible Tuesday night. The Division III star wrote a new chapter.

"There was a point during the second half where I hit a number of threes in a row -- maybe seven or eight -- I felt like anything I threw up was going in," Taylor said. "I've been in the zone before but I've never taken so many shots."

Bevo Francis of Rio Grande held the NCAA scoring record with 113 points against Hillsdale in 1954. In 1953, Francis had 116 against Ashland Junior College. Frank Selvy is the only other player to reach triple figures, scoring 100 points for Division I Furman against Newberry in 1954.

The previous Grinnell record was 89 by Griffin Lentsch last Nov. 19 against Principia.

Taylor said he entered the locker room at halftime under the assumption he'd racked up 30 points in the first half. But when head coach David Arseneault whipped out the first-half stat sheet, he realized he was mistaken.

"Coach walked in with a stat sheet and said I had 58," Taylor said. "You could see the team's eyes light up."

By the end of the night, Taylor was 52-for-108 (27-for-71 from the 3-point line) and he'd established a new collegiate record.

Before his squad took the floor Tuesday night, Taylor met with a few teammates for a pregame devotional. It was the first time that Taylor, a sophomore at the Division III school, had ever read Bible verses with other players prior to tipoff.

They focused on Matthew 25, a chapter that features a parable about the value of talents.

"I gotta thank the man upstairs," Taylor said. "I was able to multiply my talents tonight."

Taylor wasn't the only star of the game. Faith Baptist Bible's David Larson scored 70 points (34-for-44). But the two didn't discuss their parallel shooting success during the game, Taylor said.

"We definitely made it a focus to stop him," he said. "There wasn't any interaction."

Taylor said his previous scoring high at any level was a 48-point effort for Black River Falls High School in Black River Falls, Wis.

Taylor transferred to Grinnell after competing for UW-La Crosse last season. He said he liked Arseneault's system.

Before Tuesday's mind-boggling performance, Taylor said he worked on his shot more than he had in the past. On Sunday and Monday, Taylor said, he took a "couple 100" shots before practice. Taylor had made just 11 of 41 shots entering Tuesday's game, struggles that inspired those extra reps.

It all paid off against Faith Baptist Bible.

"I was able to, I guess, find my shot again," Taylor said.

That's clearly an understatement.

Taylor credited his teammates for their "unselfishness" throughout the record-setting outing. He said he was proud that his mother, father and girlfriend, who all traveled from Wisconsin, saw the game.

They, like him, were in shock.

"I don't think it's settled in yet," he said.

Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks were amazed by Taylor's feat when they heard about it after their victory in New Orleans.

"I never heard of nothing like that. That's like a video game," Anthony said, an incredulous look on his face. "How can you shoot 100 times, though?"

He joked that from now on when someone asks if he's taking too many shots, he'll mention "that someone shot it 108 times."

Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant also was astounded by the 108 shots.

"Jack Taylor you deserve a shot of Jack Daniels after that performance lol...wow," Durant tweeted.

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Wow, this is celebrated nationally? Highlight videos show 4 guys standing and 1 guy trying to jack shots. The kid finished with 0 assists. He played against a bunch of guys way slower and unrecruited so the talent difference was huge. He didn't see the bench, the whole thing was to break the record and have him jack up these shots. He thinks he shot the lights out but he scored 138 on 108 shots, that's called volume scoring and its not efficient. Poor sportsmanship, gamesmanship, and leadership from Grinnel. And a kid on the other team was doing the same thing for the bible school! Bad basketball all around.

Ball don't lie, read the box score

[rundrave]

The kid finished with 0 assists.

what I quoted pretty much sums it up. this should not be celebrated....what a joke. I really hate this and its simply the wrong message.

[Slabasaurus]

what I quoted pretty much sums it up. this should not be celebrated....what a joke. I really hate this and its simply the wrong message.

I wonder how many people had ever heard of Grinnell before this story came out.

I can't agree with the two posters that are hating on this kid. If he were stealing the ball from his own team, sure. Hate away. Sounds like his teammates were helping.

Furthermore, what do you think these Grinnell kids are going to do? Make it somewhere pro ball?

No. They're going to graduate and go to grad school, or just move back to the farm.

I've been there a bunch for parties/ultimate tournies... hell I didn't even know they had a b-ball team until we used their showers the last day of the toruney my senior year.

hahahaha.

[JBMasterAngler]

I actually have heard of Grinnell before this Years back I read in a program that they lost to the gophers in football like 150-0 around 100 years ago. I'm pretty sure it was the most lopsided game in college football history.

[picksbigwagon]

Grinnell's coach has a unique offensive system, he wants a shot by his team every twenty seconds of game time. Usually they put two guys back in Defense, one guy floating the middle of the court for outlets and two guys on the offensive end. I played against Grinnell in college when this guy first started there in the late 80's (89 was the game) and he was just starting to develop his "system". We tried,to slow it down in the first half but after the first time out, our shooting guard used some choice words and talked our coach into opening it up, which we did and we won.......

Not anything different than any Grinnell team of the past 15-20 years. Kid got hot and their system took care of the rest

[Scott M]

I can't agree with the two posters that are hating on this kid. If he were stealing the ball from his own team, sure. Hate away. Sounds like his teammates were helping.

Furthermore, what do you think these Grinnell kids are going to do? Make it somewhere pro ball?

No. They're going to graduate and go to grad school, or just move back to the farm.

You enjoy watching one guy dribble and 4 guys watch? And it's justifiable because his teammates helped him?

I'm not worried about too many D3 guys making it in the NBA, heck most D1 guys don't play any pro ball.

The point is that game was bad basketball all around. Call it hating, but you could pick a number of guys, put them in that system, give them 108 shots, give them a whole game against inferior competition that won't retaliate, and get the same or more points. It's not anything to celebrate. It's bad basketball.

[koonie]

Nothing to be proud of in my opinion.

My question is: why didn't the opposing coach have 2 or 3 guys hounding him? I would NEVER have let this happen if I was coaching! It sure as hell wouldn't have happened if I was playing either! Was the losing team even trying to stop him. Cripes! Have a little pride!

[picksbigwagon]

I am guessing faith baptist bible college scored more points in this game than their next 5 games combined......

The major problem with Grinnell's "System" is they really don't play defense,,they bank on the fact tht they can make more baskets than you can in 40 minutes. Sure they put up a ton of points, but they give up a ton of points and when they play disciplined teams who play defense and score points, they lose.......

Back when I played, he would have had the handcuffs slapped on him after the first half, and I guarantee he would never have survived a drive to the basket

[nofishfisherman]

I've been there a bunch for parties/ultimate tournies... hell I didn't even know they had a b-ball team until we used their showers the last day of the toruney my senior year.

hahahaha.

You an Ultimate Frisbee player Slab? I've been playing for 10-12 years.

[goblueM]

Something else worthy of mention is the quality of competition. I played for a terrible football team, and we beat the SNOT out of Principia. And this other bible college is worse than them.

It's pretty much the equivalent of Alabama football playing a D2 team

Look at the stats - 38% from 3 point range, 0 assists, they purposefully feed the guy so he can score as many points as possible, don't play defense... it's a sham record.

[Brade4]

Agree with you on everything. Except, the kid from the Bible school was 34-44 from the floor. Too many shots still? You decide. Much more affective, efficient, and respectable than 138 points on 108 shots.

*******************

Wow, this is celebrated nationally? Highlight videos show 4 guys standing and 1 guy trying to jack shots. The kid finished with 0 assists. He played against a bunch of guys way slower and unrecruited so the talent difference was huge. He didn't see the bench, the whole thing was to break the record and have him jack up these shots. He thinks he shot the lights out but he scored 138 on 108 shots, that's called volume scoring and its not efficient. Poor sportsmanship, gamesmanship, and leadership from Grinnel. And a kid on the other team was doing the same thing for the bible school! Bad basketball all around.

Ball don't lie, read the box score

[goblueM]

Agree with you on everything. Except, the kid from the Bible school was 34-44 from the floor. Too many shots still? You decide. Much more affective, efficient, and respectable than 138 points on 108 shots.

8 shots, that's called volume scoring and its not efficient.

That's because Grinell's entire philosophy in the game was to let their opponent get open layups, then race down the floor and jack up a bunch of 3 pointers.

It's not really respectable, because it's essentially taking layups from a warmup line in pregame due to Grinell's philosophy of not playing defense

[Brade4]

It's a hell of a lot more respectable than 27-71 from 3 point land and finishing with 138 points on 108 shots. Do the math.

[Scott M]

He's baaaccckkk...

Associated Press

GRINNELL, Iowa -- Jack Taylor renewed his membership in the Century Club.

Taylor scored 109 points for Division III Grinnell College on Sunday, shooting 24-for-48 on 3-pointers in a 173-123 win over Crossroads. He poured in 53 during the first nine minutes of the second half.

The 5-foot-10 guard from Black River Falls, Wis., set an NCAA record for any level by scoring 138 points last Nov. 20 in a 179-104 win over Faith Baptist Bible College.

The only other player to score more than 109 in an NCAA game was Rio Grande's Clarence "Bevo" Francis, who had 113 against Hillsdale in 1954.

Against Crossroads College, in Rochester, Minn., Taylor was 35 of 70 overall from the field while playing only 29 minutes. He made 15 of 17 foul shots.

"Just like last year, I couldn't have done this without my teammates," Taylor said. "I give so much credit to them. This truly was a team effort. I'm thankful for the program and the people I have playing with me."

Taylor scored 71 points in the Pioneers' 144-99 victory Friday in the season opener against Finlandia.

**************************

Well, he's definitely improved this summer. This time he dropped 2 dimes to go with his 70 field goal attempts. He's committed to being a team player, no doubt.

[Mid-Lake Rock]

Against Crossroads College, in Rochester, Minn., Taylor was 35 of 70 overall from the field while playing only 29 minutes. He made 15 of 17 foul shots.

I have lived in Minnesota for 35 years and this is the first I've heard of Crossroads College. Enrollment of 184.

[DrJuice1980]

So this guy plays no defense. He just sits on the three point line and gets passes and if some defends him he fakes and has about 5 secs to put up a shot. I guess him and the coach have never heard of a "bad shot." Whats practice like? I bet everybody has to shoot 300 3pointers. These kids are really learning to play the game the right way.

Sports teach character. I bet we hear more of Jack when he commits a major crime when somebody finally tells him "no."

The rest of this kids life is going to be a total failure.

[DrJuice1980]

3 points in his last showing. What a versatile player.