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John Taylor became the first player in FPU history to score 50 points in a game, leading the top-seeded Sunbirds past #8 Roberts Wesleyan in the NCCAA Tournament 113-101.

The 50 points set an FPU school record, a Pacific West Conference record, and was the highest point total this season by any player at the NCAA Division II level.

Taylor was in top-form from the opening tip, scoring 31 points in the first half including eight in the final minute of the half as FPU built a 59-48 halftime lead. The Sunbirds would need all the scoring they could get however as RWC came out firing in the second half, eventually taking the lead 91-90 with 4:30 left.

Taylor, Malcolm Griffin and the rest of the Sunbirds refused to back down though in the closing minutes, salvaging a win and avoiding what would have been a monumental upset by the 8-20 Redhawks.

The game was tied 92-92 with four minutes left before Griffin drove the length of the court for a bucket, then stole the ball and passed to Taylor who layed it up for two more. Matt Samuels added two free-throws to make it a 6-0 run, 98-92, with 3:25 to play. The Redhawks scored to cut it to four, but Taylor knocked down a jumper and got hit in the air, converting the free-throw to make it a seven-point lead with two minutes left. The Redhawks wouldn't get any closer.

It was an extremely efficient shooting night for Taylor, who finished 16-for-23 from the field, 14-for-18 from the line and 4-for-8 from three-point range.

"I couldn't even tell you if something like that has been done before," said head coach Chris Wright. "50 points on 23 shots is unbelievable. He seemed to score so effortlessly tonight. He made it look easy."

Griffin narrowly missed a triple-double, finishing with 17 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Five Sunbirds finished in double figures as Samuels added 14 points, Rickey Vick finished with 12 and Antonio Credit had 10. Trevon Clayton added eight points and eight rebounds.

"Malcolm was dominant down the stretch and Matt did a great job of running our team," said Wright. "Trevon, Anthony and Zach all gave us a big spark off the bench after falling behind 11-2 to start the game so it really was a complete team effort tonight."

Mike Stone had 31 points to lead the Redhawks. Tyrel Dixon added 28 and Devin Grimes finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

The Sunbirds shot 54 percent from the field, but the difference came at the free-throw line in a game that featured 75 free throws between the two teams. FPU shot 81 percent from the charity stripe while RWC hit just 52 percent.

FPU struggled on the defensive end, allowing a Redhawk team to set a season high in scoring and shoot 52 percent from the field. Anthony Brant put together a phenomenal defensive performance throughout the night, but collectively the Sunbirds will have to improve upon tonight's performance as tougher competition lies ahead.

"I'm just glad we got the win," said Taylor after the game. "We started off a little slow. Once we started getting our rhythm back we really started to play. I think if we would have played a little harder on defense the game would have gone better for us. I thought they played really well. They did a great job of shooting the ball, but we have to focus on defense. Defense is what got us here and I think that will be the difference tomorrow."

The Sunbirds have a much tougher task tomorrow as they take on #5-seed Shorter (GA) at 3:30 pm (12:30 PST). The Hawks (19-11) defeated #4-seed MidAmerica Christian 101-89 today and like the Sunbirds are transitioning to NCAA Division II from the NAIA. The team made the NAIA Final Four last season.

"Shorter is an explosive offensive team and so we obviously can't let them shoot 52 percent like we did tonight," said Wright. "Their record is deceiving because they had one of their best players miss some games this year. I think they are the best team here. It's going to come down to us playing defense and controlling the glass."

The tournament's other semifinal is between #2 Cedarville (OH) and #3 Oklahoma Christian.

The previous FPU school record was 46 points, set by Don Jones vs. Vanguard in 1969. The previous PacWest record was set by Taylor earlier this season with 44 points vs. Academy of Art. The previous high this season by an NCAA Division II player was 47 points by Joe Graessle of Tiffin University.