Braves deal Bluejays first KCAC loss
Tabor men can't recover from icy first half in 75-68 defeat
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Fifteen games into the season, one of the secrets to beating the Bluejays is out — make them rely on their perimeter shooting.
Ranking seventh in the league in three-point shooting with 31 percent and eighth in perimeter defense, three-point play hasn't been Tabor's advantage.
Neither perimeter nor field goal shooting was working Saturday night at Ottawa for the Bluejays in the first half against the Braves.
Tabor mustered an icy six for 25 from the floor while going a modest two for 10 from behind the arc.
The first half was just enough to keep the Bluejays from recovering as the Braves handed Tabor its first league loss of the season, 75-68.
The loss drops Tabor into a two-way tie for first in the KCAC with Friends at 5-1 and 5-11 on the year.
Prior to Saturday, Bluejay coach Don Brubacher was leery of the Braves' leading scorers, P.J. Siggal and Bret Lickteig.
Ranking fourth and 10th in league scoring respectively, Siggal and Lickteig combined to burn Tabor for 33 points.
Four-fifths of the Braves' starting lineup scored in double figures.
When Siggal wasn't scoring his game-high 21 points, including five-for-six from downtown, he was busy disrupting the Bluejay offense and hassling Tyson Ratzlaff.
Still, Ratzlaff scored a team-high 15 points and dished off a game-high five assists.
Matt Nelson's three nearly 3:00 into the game was the first and only time the Bluejays had the lead.
Siggal scored half of Ottawa's first eight points as the Braves gained control of the game with six unanswered points.
Tabor pulled as close as two twice in the first half, but Ottawa enjoyed a five-point lead for the majority of the first 20:00.
With just six field goals the first half, the Bluejays shooting 13 of 19 at the free throw line was big in helping them stay close at the break, trailing 33-27.
The Bluejays warmed up the second half to hit 15 for 26 from the field and 41 percent for the game.
Finishing with 14 points, Jeremiah Randall sparked a 6-0 run for the Bluejays that cut the Brave lead to two, 40-38, with 15:20 left in the game.
Tabor had to fight its way back from as many as 14 in the game's final 6:30, cutting the lead down as close as four once.
Ottawa sewed the game shut in the closing :43, hitting eight for 11 at the free throw line and 28 for 41 for the game.
With just 14 attempts at the line the second half, Tabor converted on seven for 61 percent overall.
Bright spots for the Bluejays were out-rebounding the Braves 43-33, and 9-4 offensively, paced by Colby Bettles' game-high eight.
The Bluejays return to the court at 8 p.m. tonight when they host Southwestern. Tabor hosts St. Mary at 7 p.m. Saturday.
McPherson
Despite struggling on offense all night, the Bluejays won their fifth conference game of the year Jan. 8 against the visiting McPherson Bulldogs, 68-56.
"The first half we struggled even more on the offensive end than we did in the second half," Don Brubacher said. "We didn't exactly look like we had a good offensive flow the second half either.
"I felt we struggled on the offensive end the entire game. I felt we won the game on the defensive end of the court."
With the league's premiere scorer in Kenny Romero, the Bulldogs lead the KCAC in scoring with 77 points a game.
That didn't seem to faze the Bluejays any the first half as they held McPherson to just 20 points and the foul-plagued Romero to six.
The lead changed hands seven times in the first half before Matt Nelson's fast break put Tabor in front the rest of the way, 19-18 with 4:06 to go before half-time.
Tabor ended the first half on a 5-0 run to lead 26-20 at the break with Brad Gattis scoring seven of his game-high 20 points and 12 rebounds.
The Bulldogs pulled as close as three in the first 2:00 of the second half, shortly before a Gattis free-throw ignited an 11-1 run that pushed the Bluejay lead to 45-29.
McPherson couldn't get anything to fall the second half, hitting 11 for 37 from the floor and one for 11 from long range.
Tabor, on the other hand, couldn't miss, scalding the Bulldogs with 10 for 17 from the field.
The chance at a Bulldog comeback grew slim once Romero fouled out with 5:00 left after getting rung up for a technical.
Tabor hit 19 for 29 at the free throw line the second half with eight of 10 in the final 5:00.
Nelson and Bettles joined Gattis in double figures with 13 and 10, respectively, followed by Jeremiah Randall's nine.
