Jays outmuscled in post-holiday classic
Tabor men winless after non-conference schedule
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Tabor dropped two games Jan. 2-3 in Hillsboro's Golden Heritage Foods Post-Holiday Classic.
The Classic provided the Bluejays with another pair of near-misses Saturday against St. Gregory's and Northwestern Oklahoma State on Friday.
For years, the Bluejays have prided themselves on playing fundamental, finesse basketball, not back-alley brawling.
That was just what Tabor ran into Saturday night against the bruising Cavaliers with SGU overcoming a half-time deficit for a 68-61 win.
On Friday, it was the Rangers using a 44-27 hammering on the rebounds and 22-9 edge off putbacks to beat Tabor, 75-67.
The two setbacks drop Tabor to 4-10 on the year as they open the KCAC at 4-0 tonight against visiting McPherson.
Tabor has seen few teams this year that can duke it out with the best of them quite like the Cavaliers can.
The Bluejays used their finesse style of play to stay neck-and-neck with the Cavaliers the first 5:00 of the game.
Matt Nelson's fast-break with just over 15:30 left in the first frame fueled a 13-0 run that pushed the Bluejay lead to 21-10 with 11:03 to go.
A 9-5 run capped off by Anthony Monson's basket with 3:48 before the half gave the Bluejays their largest lead of the game, 30-17.
The game then went from being normal to a free-for-all.
"The first 10, 12 minutes especially was what I would call a pretty normal college basketball game as far as how much physical play there was and the type of physical play," a frustrated coach Don Brubacher said. "We were winning fairly easily, and our opponents made some very substantial changes in their play to get themselves back in the game."
Hulking 6'9" Brazilian Diego Mello scored 15 points on the night for the Cavaliers, nine in the final 6:34 of the half, helping trim the Bluejay lead to 32-27 at the break.
"It's difficult to play the game of basketball when you literally can't go anywhere on the court without being held, pushed, or hit," said Brubacher. "It went from a fairly normal basketball game in regard to what is allowed for physical contact to an absolute brawl."
Five straight points from the Cavaliers, including three from leading-scorer Pete Rourke's 21 and SGU tied the game at 32 :54 into the second half.
Tyson Ratzlaff scored a game-high 22 points to go along with six assists.
Ratzlaff's basket with 18:44 left in the game marked the final time the Bluejays would have the lead.
The Cavaliers used a 7-0 run to put a 39-34 distance between the Bluejays.
Hitting four-of-10 through the first half, the Bluejays cooled to one-for-seven the second and an icy 29 percent on the night.
Bruisers like Mello, Rourke, Eddie Rowe, and Oleksandr Nyzkoshapka did wonders in helping the Cavaliers grab a 32-23 win in the rebounding column, outscoring Tabor 8-2 in second-chance points.
Trailing 51-40, Ratzlaff scored on two straight possessions as part of a 9-0 run that got Tabor back to within two with 7:37 remaining.
Shooting 50 percent from the floor in the first half, Tabor often was out-muscled for position at getting good looks at the hoop. As a result, the Bluejay shooting percentage chilled to 34 the second half and 41 percent for the game.
The free-for-all turned into a game of possessions the closing 1:40.
The Bluejays hit four-for-seven at the free-throw line the second half, eight of 15 for the game with the Cavaliers draining nine for 11 the final half.
Needing two possessions to tie the game with :24, Tabor's fate was sealed as Rourke's second free-throw slammed the door.
"I really regret that we come away with a loss," Don Brubacher said. "I felt our players really did play good enough basketball and play well enough in both respects to come out of here with a win, but we end up chalking up another loss."
Tabor resumes KCAC play tonight at 8 p.m. in Hillsboro when it hosts the McPherson Bulldogs.
