Tabor men sweep three games

<p>Lance Carter became Tabor’s all-time scoring leader with this dunk at Bethel. Carter’s 21-point effort in Tabor’s 75-61 win gave him 1,597 career points, bettering the previous record of 1,593 points set by Jesse Herrmann in 1995. Carter scored 56 points in Tabor’s three wins last weeks.Janae Rempel / Free PressThe Tabor College men’s basketball team found success over a three-game week to improve to 13-1 in KCAC play, 16-6 overall.

Coach Micah Ratzlaff said he was pleased to see his team put together complete games all three nights.

“We had a big week, and I think it was huge for not only our confidence but our chemistry,” he said. “I just keep preaching, ‘Stay hungry. One game at a time.’”

York—Tabor rolled to a 99-90 victory on the road Saturday, led by a 30-point effort from Julian Winton, who scored 12 of his points at the charity stripe to lead all scorers for the game.

York led only by two, 2-0, but a 6-0 Bluejay run gave Tabor the lead for good. By the 12:16 mark, Tabor had used an 8-0 effort to build a double-digit, 24-11 lead, but over the next 6:33, York rallied within 35-32 with 5:43 left in the half.

Cody May scored off a turnover to start an 8-2 run that kept Tabor in front, and the Bluejays held a seven-point lead at halftime, 49-42.

The Bluejays turned a 56-50 advantage into a 66-52 lead with a 10-2 run fueled by four points from Davaghndre Jones and three each from Tullio Parry and Lance Carter. Tabor enjoyed its largest lead of the night, 84-69, when Carter made a free throw with 6:35 to play, but over the next 5:27, York chipped away at Tabor’s lead, outscoring the Bluejays 17-8 to close the gap to 92-86 with 1:08 to play.

Winton scored Tabor’s next five points at the charity stripe and a steal and ensuing basket by Parry extended Tabor’s lead to 99-88. York scored at the buzzer to bring the final margin to nine.

All five Bluejay starters scored in double figures, led by Winton with 30 points, Carter 20, Jones 12, Parry 11 and Alan Urrutia 10.

“Our biggest thing was, just show up and play from the beginning till the end,” coach Micah Ratzlaff said. “Obviously your starters have to set the pace for that, and they did a great job from the very beginning, just in attack mode. (They) played extremely hard (and) played pretty good defense. York can really score it, so I’m really pleased with the starters and their leadership as a whole, (there) being a number of seniors in that lineup.”

Sterling—Tabor trailed only briefly in a 74-63 victory Wednesday.

Tullio Parry made a pair of threes in the first 2:21, but Sterling took the lead, 8-6. Lance Carter erased the deficit with a trey, scoring the game’s next seven points, and the Bluejays never trailed again.

When Sterling drew within 13-12, Tabor went on an 11-1 run capped by an alley-oop by Julian Winton, assisted by Carter.

Tabor maintained its 11-point margin at halftime, 29-18. Sterling made 16 percent of its first-half field goal attempts (6-of-37). Tabor made 36 percent (12-of-33).

Both teams improved offensively in the second half, with Tabor shooting 50 percent (15-of-30) and Sterling, 53 percent (16-of-30). The Bluejays took command with a 24-10 run to lead 53-28. Not long after, coach Micah Ratzlaff went to his bench. Tabor led by as many as 58-32 after a Carter trey, and the Bluejays went on to win by 11.

“We guarded really well, especially the first half,” Ratzlaff said. “If we would’ve hit any shots, we would’ve had a big lead. That’s three games in a row now where I really feel like we controlled the game, but it was from the defensive end.

“We did do some good things on offense. I liked our ball movement and I thought we passed the ball extremely well.”

Carter led all scorers with 15 points and had nine assists. Parry and Winton each scored 14 points.

Bethel—Tabor earned a 75-61 victory Monday in a game rescheduled from the previous Saturday.

Coach Micah Ratzlaff credited his defense for propelling the team to victory.

“The defense was the big kicker for us,” he said. “We’re starting to guard and be able to put a little bit of pressure on the other teams, and when you get stops, good things happen on offense.”

Lance Carter set a new Tabor record in the game, becoming the Bluejays’ all-time scoring leader. His game-high 21 points put him at 1,597 points through 101 games in his career, surpassing the previous record of 1,593 points set by Jesse Herrmann in 1995.

Carter acknowledged the record was on his radar as he progressed in his career, but said he is more focused on what the team can accomplish this season.

“It’s maybe a goal that we had coming in, something that I thought that maybe we could do after my freshman year and sophomore year, but the success we’ve had as a team is bigger than that,” Carter said. “It’s bigger even this year. We have a lot more that we want to accomplish as a team.”

Bethel took its largest lead of the night, 13-11, when Chase Banister made his second three-pointer in a 1:06 span, but Tabor took the lead with a 7-0 run after that and never relinquished it.

By halftime, the Bluejays’ lead had grown to 36-23, led by the scoring effort of Tullio Parry, who compiled 13 points to lead all scorers at intermission.

Bethel came roaring back with an 18-7 rally after the break to close the gap to 43-41 with 13:29 to play.

Carter responded by scoring eight of Tabor’s next 10 points in a 2:07 span to extend the lead to 53-45. By the time Carter scored off a turnover and was fouled, Tabor’s lead was back in double figures, 66-55. Carter’s ensuing free-throw tied Herrmann’s record. Parry recorded a steal after that, launching the ball ahead to Carter, who threw down a dunk to score his 18th and 19th points of the game and officially become Tabor’s all-time scoring leader. The basket put Tabor firmly in front, 69-55, with 3:05 to play, and Tabor went on to win by that same margin.

Carter scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half to lead all scorers.

“Coach had told me I needed 18 (points), and I knew I was getting close,” Carter said of the play that broke the record. “I didn’t know exactly. It was definitely a fun way (to break the record), for sure. I don’t have too many (dunks) in my career, either, so it was fun.”

Parry and Julian Winton joined Carter in double figures with 18 points each.

Coming—Tabor, who ranks 23rd nationally, will travel to Friends (9-4, 13-8) tonight for an 8 p.m. game and will host Saint Mary (9-4, 17-6) Saturday at 7 p.m.

The Spires handed the Bluejays their only KCAC loss in early December, 95-86.


TABOR COLLEGE

Top 10 career scorers

1. Lance Carter (‘14-17) 1,632

2. Jesse Herrmann (‘92-95) 1,593

3. Allen Regier (‘71-74) 1,439

4. Ron Regier (’65-68) 1,415

5. Brad Gattis (‘03-06) 1,373

6. Mike Brenneman (‘87-90) 1,358

7. Jerry Pinx (‘88-91) 1,334

8. Eugene Friesen (‘59-62) 1,304

9. Hiram Finney (‘95-97) 1,287

10. LeRoy Dick (‘61-63) 1,275

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