ORIGINALLY WRITTEN TOM STOPPEL
The Tabor College women had little trouble avenging an early season loss to Bethany as they rolled to a 61-37 win.
Tabor’s defense set the stage in the first half as the Bluejays rolled to a 30-15 halftime lead.
Bethany was able to cut the lead to seven points at 39-32 with 11:33 to play in the game, but the Bluejays reeled off the next 17 points to grab a 56-32 lead and coast home with the win.
Jill Hein led Tabor with 12 points, but illustrating the true team effort, Tabor had seven other players score six or more points in the game.
Tabor held All-American center Jill Nech to just 11 points, seven under her conference leading average.
Tabor connected on 27 of 62 field goal attempts for 43.5 percent while Bethany only triggered on 36 shots in the game, hitting just 13 of those for 36 percent.
With the win, the Bluejays tied Bethany for fourth place in the conference with a 6-5 KCAC record. Tabor improves to 12-9 overall.
The Tabor men played great in spurts but struggled in others, but the final result was an 82-67 win.
Tabor raced to a 22-10 lead, but saw the Swedes come back and take a three point 30-27 lead just six minutes later.
When halftime arrived, the Bluejays had reconstructed their lead at 46-41.
Bethany was able to whittle the lead to 54-51 with 15:20 to play, but a 14-0 Bluejay run spoiled the upset thoughts of the Swedes as Tabor finished the game in front 82-67.
Brad Gattis led Tabor in both scoring (14) and rebounding (8), but Tyson Ratzlaff added 13 points, Colby Bettles contributed 11 points, and both Anthony Monson and Jeremiah Randall scored 10 for Tabor.
Tabor blistered the nets by hitting 29 of 57 field goal attempts for 51 percent while holding Bethany to just 40 percent.
With the win, the Bluejays maintain their hold on the top spot in the KCAC with a 9-2 record while improving to 9-12 overall.
Bluejays sweep pair from Swedes
