The Tabor College men?s basketball team lost its final game before conference play to NCAA Division II No. 10 University of Central Missouri in an exhibition game Sunday, 77-62.
Tabor led, 12-10, after two free throws by JT Nemit and held a slight, 18-17, margin when Chance LeBlanc drained a three.
But a 14-2 run gave the Mules the lead for good., and Central Missouri led, 42-32, at halftime and maintained a double-digit margin the rest of the way.
Tabor shot 37 percent from the field (20-54), compared with 57.7 percent for the Mules (30-52). Malik Brooks scored a game-high 16 points for Tabor. Andrew Thomas, KCAC Offensive Player of the Week, added 10. Central Missouri scored 24 points off 16 Tabor turnovers.
Hastings Classic?Tabor lost two games at the Hastings Classic Friday and Saturday.
The Bluejays opened the classic with a 78-69 loss to Doane Friday.
Tabor squandered a 38-27 halftime lead as Doane outscored the Bluejays 51-31 in the second half.
Offensively, Tabor held the advantage, shooting 57.1 percent from the field (24-42).
Doane shot 39.3 percent (22-56) but battled from the charity stripe, sinking 24 of 29 attempts (82.8 percent). Doane also made 10 of 28 three-point attempts (35.7 percent) in the game.
Tabor followed with an 84-76 loss to host Hastings Saturday.
The lead changed hands 11 times. Tabor took an early advantage and led by as many as six, 16-10, after a three-point play by Andrew Thomas.
But Hastings battled to take the lead, and built to its largest of the night, 45-35, with a three-pointer with 2:24 left before halftime. The Bluejays trimmed it to 47-42 by intermission.
Tabor led briefly in the second half, 65-63, when Dewayne Biggs sank two free throws, but after a 66-66 tie, Hastings reclaimed the lead for good.
Tabor shot 46.2 percent from the field (24-52) and was led by Thomas and Biggs with 17 points each. Malik Brooks added 10 points.
Hastings made 11 of 27 three-point attempts (40.7 percent).
Haskell?Tabor defeated the Indians 85-73 Tuesday.
The Bluejays built a 40-31 lead by halftime, and increased it to as many as 61-45 with 11:30 left in the game.
Tabor shot 48.5 percent from the field (33-68), including 10-21 from three (47.6 percent). Malik Brooks and Andrew Thomas shared top scoring honors with 19 points each. John Jedneak chipped in 16 and Jake Arck 11.
Coming?Tabor (2-7) will open conference play at Southwestern (9-0) Thursday at 8 p.m. The Bluejays will host Friends (1-8) in their first home game of the season Saturday at 7 p.m.
