The Tabor College men?s basketball team gained an 87-67 victory over McPherson in its final KCAC game before Christmas break.
Tabor never trailed by more than two points in Saturday?s 20-point victory.
With McPherson in front 13-12, John Jedneak hit a three that ignited a 14-4 Tabor surge, the last nine points of which came courtesy of Justin Malan.
The Bluejays increased their lead to double figures after that, and led by 19, 44-25, at halftime.
Tabor widened the gap with a run of 10 to start the second half, and the Bluejays led by 30, 62-32, when Malik Brooks hit a three-pointer.
McPherson whittled Tabor?s lead to 20, 85-65, with 1:06 to play, and in the end, Tabor nailed down the 20-point victory.
Malan led with 17 points. Jedneak added 14, Brooks 13, Andrew Thomas 10 and Jake Arck 10. Thomas pulled down 10 rebounds as well. Tabor shot 56.7 percent from the field (34-60).
Saint Mary?It took time for Tabor to find its rhythm Thursday, and the Bluejay bench provided the needed fuel to light the fire in a 99-82 win over the No. 23 Spires.
Saint Mary burst to a 7-0 lead and extended it to 17-6 with a layup off a turnover at 13:24. Justin Malan ignited an 8-0 burst with a three-point play, and Tabor took its first lead, 20-19, when John Jedneak scored.
The teams traded baskets, then Jonathan Gibson sparked an 11-0 run with two free throws and a basket, and when Chance LeBlanc scored off a steal, Tabor was in front, 40-25. The Bluejays led, 40-29, at halftime.
?Our bench was huge for us coming in and giving us a spark and just got everybody back to normal it felt like, or actually got us above normal from what we?ve been playing like, so a huge compliment to those guys,? coach Micah Ratzlaff said. ?They played really well on the defensive end. They started to really guard. They got some early rebounds. After that first stretch, I thought we passed the basketball as well as we have in awhile.?
Thomas and Gibson combined for Tabor?s next 14 points for a 54-34 score with 16:18 to play. Tabor committed its 10th team foul at 10:55, and both teams battled from the charity stripe down the stretch. Tabor made 25 of 32 attempts in the second half (78.1 percent), while the Spires made 22 of 25 (88 percent).
The closest the Spires drew was 86-74 with 2:01 left in the game, and Tabor made 11 of 12 free throws in the final 1:34 to seal the win.
Thomas led with 21 points. Biggs added 18, Brooks 13, Jedneak 12 and Gibson 10.
?Just getting post touches helped us be aggressive, and then not settling for a bunch of three-pointers,? Ratzlaff said. ?Just being smart (and) actually understanding what?s a good play, what?s not a good play. Guys making better decisions. It?s been tough for us to do that, so if they want to learn it now, great.?
Coming?Tabor (3-1, 5-8) was scheduled to play an exhibition game at Washburn Monday, then will host the Tabor Classic upon returning from Christmas break. Tabor will play Culver-Stockton Jan. 2 at 8 p.m. and Missouri Valley Jan. 3 at 7 p.m.
