ORIGINALLY WRITTEN ANDREW OTTOSON
Sterling came into Hillsboro on Saturday night with aspirations of tying Southwestern for the second-best record in the KCAC.
The Tabor men had other ideas, and the Bluejays took the by storm in the first half.
Mike Willis drilled a long jumper-a 2-pointer-that gave the home team a 10-4 lead 4:10 into play.
Sterling rallied back to make it 10-9, but high-percentage perimeter shooting helped the Jays push their lead to as many as 14 points in the first half.
Six-feet-ten-inch Sterling center Jonathan Woods put an exclamation point on the importance of effectiveness from beyond the arc with a pair of emphatic first half shot blocks.
But despite Woods imposing interior presence-he had 12 points and 9 rebounds in the first half-the Bluejays carried a 44-39 lead into the intermission.
With 6:52 remaining Kyle Kroeker found Greg Munroe open for a clean look at a 2-point shot. Munroe connected, and the score was 66-59.
Sterling had kept the game close to that point, and when Kroeker looked to have an easy layup following a turnover, Woods picked up his fourth foul with an ill-advised attempt at a shot block.
Woods loudly disagreed with the call, and a referee ended his night by whistling a technical. When Brubacher and Kroeker finished shooting all the free throws, Tabor led 71-59.
Brubacher drew another foul 0:20 later and gave the Bluejays a 14-point lead, the biggest of the night.
Sterling rallied again and came with two possessions of tying the game at 1:57.
Brubacher scored the next three points-a foul shot at 1:12 and a layup at 0:55-and effectively ended the game.
Four Bluejays scored double-digits: Brubacher (18 points) led the way, followed by Tyler Weinbrenner (17), Eric Weinbrenner (10) and Munroe (10).
Landon Stover scored 24 points for Sterling and Woods totaled 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Tabor improved to 4-4 on the season, while Sterling fell to 4-4.
The Bluejays are back in action next week with an 8 p.m. tipoff on Thursday at Bethany.
TC Men defeat Sterling 84-73
