After the Tabor College men?s contest at Sterling Thursday was postponed because of a fire, the Blue?jays pulled off a 76-74 victory at McPherson Saturday to improve to 8-5 in the KCAC, 15-9 overall.
Tabor took a 10-2 lead out of the gate, aided by three-point baskets from Nick Sauer and Robbie Samuel.
But McPherson used two threes to outscore Tabor 11-2 to take a slight lead.
Lance Carter, Andrew Thomas and Cameron Rust scored three consecutive baskets for a 19-13 advantage, but McPherson narrowed the gap to 21-19 before six straight points for Tabor pushed the Bluejay lead to eight.
The teams traded baskets until Thomas, Sauer and Carter scored in succession for a 39-24 lead with 1:04 left before halftime. Two Bulldog threes closed the gap to 39-30 at intermission.
McPherson picked up where it left off by hitting another three right out of the break and later tied the game at 43. McPherson took its first lead of the half, 56-55, with a three-pointer with 11:05 to play. The score remained within three points the duration of the game.
With Tabor trailing 73-71, Rust scored the tying basket at 2:49, and Dewayne Biggs nailed two free throws to put Tabor in front.
McPherson made one of two free throws to close the gap to 75-74 at 1:20. Thomas made one of two free throws with 16 seconds left, then blocked the ensuing Bulldog shot. McPherson grabbed the rebound, but the second-chance attempt missed the mark.
Biggs scored a game-high 25 points. Carter added 12 and Sauer 10. Thomas grabbed 10 rebounds to go with his nine points.
Coming?Tabor will host Ottawa (6-8, 11-13) Thursday at 8 p.m., then will travel Saturday to Southwestern (6-8, 17-9) for a 7 p.m. game. The contest at Sterling (11-2, 19-5)?has been rescheduled for Monday at 7 p.m.
