Tabor men defeat defending NAIA champs
Tabor men top USAO, Southern Nazarene
in Sterling Classic
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
There was good reason for the Bluejay men's basketball team to worry about the Nov. 22 and 23 Sterling Warrior Classic Tournament.
After all, one week earlier at the season-opening Oklahoma Christian Sleep Inn Classic, Tabor couldn't seem to do anything right.
The Bluejays couldn't rebound, execute, play defense, hit the broad side of a barn or even go as low as competing against the likes of two of NAIA Division I's heaviest hitters, Oklahoma Christian and Oklahoma Baptist.
After opening the season winless, Bluejay coach Don Brubacher knew his team's game was in dire need of some revamping.
What a difference a week can make.
The Bluejays are back, completing a minefield of a Warrior Classic unblemished and evening their record to 2-2 on the year.
In Friday's opening game, the Bluejays erased a 41-32 halftime deficit to knock off the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm, 85-80.
It took a combined 48 points the next night from the Ratzlaff brothers, Micah and Tyson, to knock out an 87-82 victory over the defending Div. I champion, University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma.
Size seldom beats speed on the basketball court and the Bluejays' speed was huge in toppling the NAIA stalwarts.
"We laid it all out on the court," Micah Ratzlaff said. "We just ran. We ran on them. We haven't run in a long time and we've always wanted too."
Micah spent last season watching from the bench due to an injured foot.
But the 6-foot-5 senior Micah showed no possible signs of missing a step in his game throughout the tournament.
He dumped a game-high 22 points on the Crimson Storm, a team boasting hot-handed freshman Omar Quinetero, who put up 21.
His biggest game yet this year came against the Drovers, bombing the for a double-double, 26 points, 12 rebounds.
Tabor's perimeter defense a week ago, much as its entire game did, played miserably.
Two pieces were not completely in place.
Tyson was still part of the football team and Grant Brubacher had only two practices under his belt, leaving only Scott Brubacher ready to compete against OCU and OBU.
The gang was back together again, with the Brubacher brothers combining for 30 points, five assists and two steals against the Crimson Storm.
Grant scored a career-high 17 points, Brad Gattis and Scott each finished with 13 a piece to join Micah in double-figures.
Scott had his hands full guarding the Drovers' MVP of last year's national tournament and first team All-America by Street and Smith's College Basketball, Michael Williamson.
Scott blanketed the 6-2 Williamson, holding him to seven points and a putrid 1 for 7 from outside the arc.
"We did an exceptional job guarding the perimeter," Don Brubacher said. "He (Williamson) is obviously a quality player. It has to be a team defensive effort, no one player ever stops somebody like that alone."
For the game, Tabor's defense harassed the Drovers into shooting 40 percent from the game and an abysmal 25 percent from long range.
Long distance shooting was the Bluejays' only flaw against the Drovers, going 3 of 29 for the night.
In a game as close as what the Bluejays' two were, the free throw line often determines the outcome.
That's where Tyson came in against the Drovers.
Tyson was a perfect 12 of 12 from the line for the night, draining 11 for 11 in crunch time.
The Bluejays had to fight their way back in the game after trailing by as many as 10 in the second half.
Up 85-82 with under :30 left in the game, Tyson picked off a pass and made it two-possession game for USAO, scoring on a fast-break.
The Bluejays traveled to Alva, Okla. Tuesday night for a showdown with the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers.
Results of Tuesday's action were unavailable at the time of publication.
