Taylor named to top 100 watch list for Bevo Francis Award

Published 4:13 pm Tuesday, January 15, 2019

PARKVILLE, Mo. — Lincoln Memorial redshirt-junior guard Cornelius Taylor has been named to the top 100 watch list for the 2019 Bevo Francis Award, it was announced by Small College Basketball (SCB) officials on Tuesday.

The Bevo Francis Award is given annually to the top player competing in either the NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA Division I, NAIA Division II, USCAA or NCCAA. A committee comprised of coaches, athletic directors and sports information personnel chose the group of watch list candidates from a pool of over 1,100 college and universities.

Last season, LMU standout forward Emanuel Terry became the third-ever Bevo Francis Award winner, following in the footsteps of Northwest Missouri State’s Justin Pitts and Davenport’s Dominez Burnett.

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The watch list will be narrowed down to 50 players on February 15 and 25 players on March 15 before the finalists are announced on April 6. The 2019 Bevo Francis Award recipient will be unveiled on April 8.

Named a preseason All-American by both the Division II Bulletin and Street & Smith, Taylor has lived up to the hype this season, leading the Railsplitters with 19.0 points per game. The Claxton, Georgia native has hit a team-leading 46 3-pointers while averaging 4.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.4 steals per contest.

Taylor has surpassed the 20-point threshold in seven of his 14 appearances this season, highlighted by a career-high 34-point night against Coker. He had 25 points against USC Aiken on the opening weekend of the season, and recently produced an impressive 23-point, 13-assist game against Newberry.

In that win over Coker, Taylor became the 30th member of the 1,000-point scoring club at Lincoln Memorial. He will be honored for that achievement prior to Saturday’s game against Lenoir-Rhyne.

Taylor is the sixth different LMU player to be named to a Bevo Francis Award watch list along with Terry, Trevon Shaw, Dorian Pinson, Luquon Choice and Jalen Steele.