With 11:04 to go in the first half, Andy Brubacher connected for a layup that gave TC a 16-15 lead that the Bluejays held until late in the second half.

Tabor led by as much as 12 in the first half, but Newman's Trent Watts ignited an 11-2 run with seven minutes to go.

Five different Newman players scored, and Aaron Carter put the visitors up by a point with 2:17 remaining.

But 6-feet, 7-inch senior forward Greg Munroe responded with two points at the 1:12 mark to force Newman to foul, and the Bluejays shot free throws to secure the win.

Munroe started the season with a double-double. In addition to 13 rebounds, he put up 14 points with six field goals and 2-for-2 shooting from the free-throw line.

Guards Tyler Weinbrenner and Mike Willis struck for double-figures from the field with 17 and 15 points, respectively.

Weinbrenner led the Bluejays with three assists.

Forward Mike Stoecker was a model of efficiency for the Bluejay offense, with six points on three field-goal attempts and pair of assists.

"Obviously, the outcome was good-we struggled pretty badly with some aspects of our game," coach Don Brubacher said.

"We found a way to win."

Tabor shot 23-of-60 from the field and had difficulty collecting rebounds down the stretch.

"We played better than I thought we would-not as good as we can or should-but we had been really struggling," Brubacher said.

The Jets hit 43 percent of its shots, but managed a meager 24 percent from 3-point range.

On Saturday, the Bluejays traveled to Northwest Oklahoma State, where they lost to the Rangers by a score of 97-62.

"We're still learning how to play to each others' strengths, and we're still on the wrong end of the learning curve in my judgment," Brubacher said.

Coming-Next for the men's team is the Sterling Classic, where the Bluejays will play rematches against both the Jets and Rangers.

Tabor meets Newman at 4 p.m. on Friday and NOSU at 4 p.m. Saturday.

TABOR WOMEN

The Tabor College women's basketball team opened its season with a pair of games at the College of the Ozarks Classic.

The season opener was a 91-66 loss to the tournament hosts, but the Bluejays defeated John Brown University 80-59 to even their record at 1-1.

Coming-The women's team will also be in action at the Sterling Classic, where the team is set to meet St. Gregory's at 2 p.m. Friday and Northwest Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. Saturday.