Men drop two to Oklahoma Christian, Oklahoma Baptist
Basketball squad loses to Oklahoma Christian, Oklahoma Baptist on the road
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Put aside any thoughts of the Bluejays opening the 2002-03 season against a pair of cream-puffs.
There were none in attendance at the Nov. 15 and 16's Oklahoma Christian University's Sleep Inn Classic in Oklahoma City.
Only some of the NAIA Division I's heavyweights in Oklahoma Christian and the 2002 Division I runner-up, Oklahoma Baptist.
The two teams got the Bluejays' season off on the wrong foot, beginning Friday with the OC Eagles handing Tabor a 98-82 setback.
The Bison got off to a quick start Saturday in the game's first 3:00, eventually rolling to a 101-74 beating of the Bluejays.
Oklahoma Baptist has been projected as the third-ranked team by Street and Smith's College Basketball, and is currently ranked sixth in the NAIA Div. I poll.
The only good thing that Bluejay coach Don Brubacher had to say about opening the season against such stalwarts was that it exposed Tabor's weaknesses.
"If you have a problem with your game, you're going to see it," Brubacher said. "You make mistakes, they'll make you pay for them every time. That's the only upside to playing this level of competition."
With the way things went for Tabor, nearly every aspect of its game needs a quick tune-up before Friday's Sterling Tournament.
It all started with competing.
"The biggest problem was we simply did not compete," said Brubacher. "We were on the basketball court, but we did not compete."
Then came the defense, where Tabor got outscored by a combined margin of 199-156, with the opponents exploiting Tabor's weakness on the wing and inside.
On the first night, it was the Eagles' 6-3 swingman Osric Woods stinging the Bluejays for a game-high 34 points, including nine from downtown.
Jared Merrill added to the Bluejays' miseries on the wing scoring 14.
Brandon Kephart was the biggest problem, dropping a triple-double on Tabor's backcourt with 18 points and 12 rebounds and assists.
The Bluejays slowed down Eagle five-man Devin Nightengale by drawing fouls, but the 6-8 Nightengale still put up 19 while hauling down six boards before fouling out.
Tabor got a team-high 15 points from Micah Ratzlaff, fresh off a year's hiatus due to a foot injury.
Jeremiah Randall followed the balanced scoring with 14, Brad Gattis tossed in 12 and Grant and Scott Brubacher each added 10.
The second night it was 6-8 Oral Roberts transfer Richie Myers and point guard David Williams, combining for 47 of the Bison's 101 points.
The same two are also listed by Street and Smith's as preseason NAIA All-America selections.
Myers scored game-high performances in both scoring and rebounding with 25 and 13, respectively, coming off the bench. Williams lit Tabor up for 22 points.
If that wasn't enough, the Bluejays surrendered 23 points and 11 rebounds to 6-7 power forward Scott Prater on top of that.
Tabor got a team-high 17 points from Gattis, 13 from Ratzlaff and 10 from Scott Brubacher.
Rebounding was another sore spot for the Bluejays, more so against the Bison than the Eagles.
On Saturday, it was OBU outrebounding the Bluejays' decisively, 48-31 with a 38-22 edge defensively.
The Bluejays countered with five each coming from Gattis and Ratzlaff.
Tabor narrowly lost the rebounding battle to the Eagles, 40-33, paced by Kephart's 12. Ratzlaff and Randall combined for 12 with six a piece.
Shooting was also an unpleasant part of the game with Tabor averaging 42 percent throughout the weekend.
"We shot the ball poorly on both nights," Don Brubacher said. "We took a lot of bad shots and missed a lot of open men, but in general, we didn't execute our game.
"It was just a tough weekend for us. We did not play well. They played a lot better than what we did, that's obvious."
The Bluejays' road gets no easier at the Sterling Tournament.
On Friday, the Bluejays oppose the defending Div. I national champion University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Drovers at 4 p.m.
Tabor closes out the tournament Saturday with another 4 p.m. start against the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm.
