RIO GRANDE, Ohio – Men's basketball dropped its season opener at the Giovanni's Pizza Tipoff Classic to Taylor, 78-63. Taylor led by as many as 19 during the second half. However, the Bears would not go away quietly and brought the game back to within two after four consecutive Jeremy Bennington threes before Taylor regrouped for the win. Bennington finished with a game-high 26 points on the night. He shot 9-of-12 from the field, including 7-of-9 from distance.

Taylor jumped out in front early, taking a 33-21 lead into the break. During the opening 20 minutes, the Bears just could not get their shots to fall as they shot 26.9-percent from the field. On the other side, Taylor shot over 54-percent from the field, including a 4-of-6 mark from beyond the arc.

Taylor then went on a 9-0 run to start the second half, stretching their lead to 19 – the largest that it would be all night. The Bears cut the lead to two with just 8:30 to play after Bennington hit four straight threes to go along with a jumper and Ian Nixon three during six straight possessions to make the score 51-49.

However, Taylor would counter right back by scoring 17 of the next 20 points to extend its lead by to 16 with just under two minutes to play and secure the win.

Over the final 20 minutes of play, the Bears shot nearly 54-percent from the field, including seven threes, but could not slow down the Taylor offense that shot 55.6-percent for the game, making 8-of-14 threes.

In addition to Bennington, Nixon and Tyler Morgan each put up double-figure scoring totals with 13 and 12, respectively. Half of Morgan's scoring came from free throw attempts as he went a perfect 6-for-6 from the line. Nixon and Andrew Devlin each pulled down six rebounds on the evening.

The Bears will be back in action tomorrow afternoon in the same place to take on Bethel at 2 p.m.