Jays lose in overtime at Sterling

John Jedneak draws a foul during the second half at Sterling. He made both free-throw attempts. Jedneak had a double-double performance with 10 points and 10 rebounds in Tabor?s 100-96 overtime loss. Janae Rempel / Free PressVictory was elusive for the Tabor College men?s basketball team in a 100-96 overtime loss at Sterling Saturday. Both teams shot the ball well but experienced some defensive struggles.

After a 14-14 tie, Dewayne Biggs gave Tabor the lead for the rest of the half with a three-point play. Tabor led by as many as eight after Andrew Thomas made the second of three dunks in the half, which ended with Tabor in front, 48-42.

Sterling used a 16-8 burst to take the lead and built it to 67-61 before a string of seven put Tabor in front by one. The teams traded the lead over five consecutives scores, until Sterling gained distance, 78-74, with 3:44 left in regulation.

Malik Brooks ignited a 7-0 Tabor burst with a three-pointer. By the time Lance Carter?who returned to the court for the first time this season, after missing previous games as a result of what Ratzlaff earlier termed an ?unfortunate situation??scored with 31 seconds left, Tabor was in front, 81-78.

But Sterling?s Brandon Stacker made a basket with 19.6 seconds left and was fouled. The three-point play tied the game at 81.

From there, a shot by Biggs missed its mark and Sterling regained possession, only to turn the ball over after a deep inbounds pass. With 2 seconds to work with, JT Nemit missed a shot at the buzzer.

Andrew Thomas scored first in the extra period, but Sterling responded with a string of six. Thomas scored, and Nemit added a pair of free throws to tie the game at 87, but in a critical moment, Sterling established a 95-87 margin with 1:10 to play.

Thomas cut the lead to 96-91 with 41 seconds left, and Biggs scored for a 98-93 score at 19.3. A pair of free throws put Sterling at 100 points, and Kyle Baker made a three with 3.3 seconds left, bringing the final margin to four.

Ratzlaff credited Sterling for its efforts offensively in a game where the Warriors shot 49.3 percent from the field (35-71), but also acknowledged defensive struggles by the Bluejays.

?(Sterling) played well, but we didn?t defend real well in the first half,? he said. ?We made some adjustments in the second half that I thought helped us quite a bit. They hit some huge shots down the stretch.

?I thought we could?ve contested better. Everything they shot without a guy on them, they hit.?

Ratzlaff acknowledged that Tabor made plays too, but the game came down to making correct decisions in crucial situations.

?It came down to about a minute stretch where we made every decision possible completely wrong,??he said. ?It?s hard because you want them to make the right play, and they?re capable of making the right play, and it just doesn?t always.?

Thomas led with 22 points. Brooks added 12, Biggs and Justin Malan each had 11, Nemit had 10 and John Jedneak had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Bethany?Thursday?s game featured teams tied for first in the KCAC with 5-1 records. Tabor claimed sole possession at the top with an 87-84 victory.

?Throughout the whole game, it felt like we were in control, mostly, even though we weren?t just blowing them out,? coach Micah Ratzlaff said. ?We were in attack mode. We were just as aggressive as they were.?

Both teams came out ready to play, and the lead changed hands four times in the game?s first six minutes.

With Tabor trailing 9-6, Andrew Thomas brought the crowd to its feet with a one-handed slam dunk, and Dewayne Biggs? back-to-back baskets put Tabor in front, 12-9, never to trail again.

With success inside, Tabor outscored the Swedes 20-10 over the next 8:15, and the Bluejays led, 32-19, with 6:00 left in the first half. But the Swedes closed to 36-30 over the next two minutes. Tabor increased its lead to 10 a few times and led, 43-36, at halftime.

The teams shot nearly identical field goal percentages in the first half. Tabor shot 44.4 percent (16-36). Bethany shot 44.1 percent (15-34).

Tabor took a 10-point lead out of the break, but the game?s leading scorer, Cody Harris, used a three and a dunk to close the gap, 46-41. Tabor embarked on a 17-5 run after that, but Bethany closed to within 75-69. The Bluejays regained a double-digit margin, 84-73, with 3:01 to go. But the Swedes would not go quietly, drawing within 84-80 with 1:22 left.

Biggs was called for a technical foul, and Bethany cut Tabor?s lead to three with a free throw. Harris trimmed the lead to 84-82 with a free throw with 42 seconds left.

Brooks sank two free throws for Tabor, and, following a Bethany turnover, made one more from the charity stripe, extending Tabor?s lead to 87-82 with 6.3 left. Alex Peterson made a basket at the buzzer, bringing the final margin to three.

Despite the win, Ratzlaff saw room for improvement. Tabor shot 64.1 percent from the free-throw line (25-39). Bethany made 16 of 32 free-throw attempts (50 percent).

?We were both missing free throws, so I thought that was a big deal for this game for us,? he said.

Biggs led Tabor with 18 points. Andrew Thomas had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Malan added 13 points and Brooks 10. Harris led all scorers with 20 points for Bethany.

Coming?Tabor (6-2, 9-10) will travel to Ottawa (4-4, 11-6) tonight at 8 p.m. before starting the second round of conference Saturday by hosting Southwestern (5-3, 14-4) at 7 p.m.

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