The Tabor basketball teams swept McPherson Thursday night. The Bluejay women started the evening with a 90-48 blowout. The men?s game was closer, but Tabor prevailed in the end, 69-63. 
WOMEN?The Tabor women were never threatened en route to their 90-48 victory over the Bulldogs.
Although McPherson scored the game?s first points, the Bulldogs? advantage was short-lived. Tabor secured the lead for good, 4-2, after a three-point basket by Mallory Zuercher with 18:36 left in the first half. McPherson tied it with a basket, but Tabor surged with a 13-0 run after that for a double-digit, 17-4, lead when Tonisha Dean scored with 12:18 remaining in the half.
The teams traded baskets, and the Bulldogs twice drew within eight points after making two three-pointers. Tabor, however, pushed its lead back to double figures, 32-22, when Kaleigh Troxell scored with 3:00 to go. The Bluejays led by 15 points with less than a minute to play, and Tabor enjoyed a 41-28 halftime lead.
Dean opened second-half scoring with six straight points for Tabor before McPherson made a basket at the 16:45 mark. Dean followed with a three-point play that gave the Bluejays a 50-30 lead and ignited a 7-0 Tabor run. Troxell, Nikki Lewis and Dean each scored from behind the arc in a span of 1:13 for a 63-36 Tabor advantage with 13:31 to play. Kayla Wilgers scored back-to-back threes to boost Tabor?s lead to 73-41.
McPherson made two free throws after that, but it was five minutes before the Bulldogs scored again. Tabor, meanwhile, enjoyed a 13-0 run to lead, 86-43, when Molly Moran scored with 2:16 remaining. Tabor?s largest lead of the night was 88-44, and the Bluejays led, 90-48, when time expired.
Dean led Tabor with a game-high 16 points. Zuercher added 12, and Lewis 10.
MEN?Tabor?s game with McPherson Thursday night featured 12 lead changes, and neither team led by more than nine points the duration of the game. In the end, Tabor prevailed, 69-63.
The Bluejays started things off with a 4-0 lead, but a 9-0 surge by the Bulldogs left Tabor trailing by five just over four minutes into the game.
Nick Sauer and Robbie Samuel contributed six straight points to put Tabor back on top, 14-13, at the 11:20 mark. The teams more or less traded scores, with the score remaining within three points. The final 5:20 of the half included two ties before Tabor surged with a 7-0 run to end the half leading by seven, 34-27, after a three-point play by D?Marco Smith.
Tabor claimed its largest lead of the night less than a minute into the second half with a basket by Andrew Thomas, 36-27. But McPherson closed the gap to four, 36-32, with five straight points. The teams traded baskets. Tabor led 44-36 after a basket by Smith, but McPherson used a 12-0 run to claim a 48-44 lead at the 10:54 mark.
Tabor trailed the next 3:47 until Lance Carter made a three-pointer that tied the game at 52. Smith followed with a basket to put Tabor back in front. The teams traded baskets?and the lead?until Smith got a steal and scored with 3:05 left to put Tabor in front for good, 58-57. Smith followed with another steal and drew a foul on the way to the basket. Two free throws extended the Bluejays? lead to 60-57.
Although McPherson twice drew within one, Tabor maintained the lead to the end to win by six.
Andrew Thomas led Tabor with a game-high 15 points. Smith and Carter added 14 apiece.
COMING?Tabor will travel to Ottawa Saturday. The women play at 3 p.m. and the men at 5 p.m.
