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Grinnell’s Jack Taylor suffers broken right wrist, likely done for season

Jack Taylor1

Earlier this season Grinnell sophomore guard Jack Taylor made national headlines with a 138-point performance that bordered on the absurd.

Even without that outburst Taylor would be averaging a more-than-adequate 28.7 points per contest, and for the season he’s averaging 36.3 ppg for the 9-3 Pioneers. But Taylor’s season came to a screeching halt on Wednesday night, as he suffered a broken right (shooting) wrist during the Pioneers’ 119-117 win over Cornell College.

Trailing by 11 points with just over six minutes remaining in the first half, an already shorthanded Grinnell squad lost Taylor as he fell while attempting a shot and most of his weight landed on top of the wrist.

Grinnell, who entered the game without multiple key contributors due to the flu, would eventually trail by as many as 21 points with Taylor out of the lineup.

But if the Pioneers’ style is good for anything other than entertainment it’s for comebacks, as the use of full-court pressure and quick shooting can make deficits disappear in minutes.

Cornell College led by 21 (62-41) with 2:25 remaining in the first half, a margin the Pioneers were able to cut to 12 by halftime. Grinnell would continue to plug along in the second half until a Luke Yeager three-pointer with 8:04 remaining gave the Pioneers a 95-94 lead.

From there the game would go back and forth until the final seconds, when a Yeager layup gave Grinnell the 119-117 victory.

“After I got the inbounds pass, I kind of saw that Cornell’s defense was a little unorganized,” Yeager said. “After I went around the first guy there wasn’t really anyone stepping up, so I just thought going for it would be a better shot.”

Yeager drove all the way down the court, through an uncluttered foul lane, and flipped the ball over the front of the rim and through the net with 1.7 seconds left. Cornell’s final fling fell nowhere near the basket, and the Pioneers had a 119-117 victory that was unorthodox even for them.


For those who like to check out stories from all levels of basketball how far Grinnell can go without Taylor will be something to check up on every so often. Sure it won’t be someone scoring 138 points, but moving on without the services of your star player will be an interesting test for the Grinnell system in the coming weeks.

Photo credit: Grinnell College

Raphielle also writes for the NBE Basketball Report and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.