HILLSBORO, Kan. – The Tabor College Men's Basketball team hosted the No. 4 ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan University on Wednesday night. The Bluejay men were coming off a tough loss on the road at Sterling College, while the Eagles fell at home to the now KCAC leader, Southwestern College. The game was billed to be an exciting one and it certainly lived up to the excitement.

The first half got off to a solid start for the Bluejays after a dunk from Oklahoma Wesleyan's Jaden Lietzke. Jake Proctor, Kalep Crane, and Thatcher McClure helped Tabor out to a seven point lead. After this, the Eagles would chip away at the lead and both teams would go on to trade buckets from then on. Both teams shot 13 threes in the first half, with Oklahoma Wesleyan making seven while the Bluejays made four. McClure and Proctor led the Bluejays at the half with nine points each, and Jack Voth had seven.

The Eagles came out of halftime as a different team it seemed, after trading buckets for a bit, they would pull away from the Bluejays, building a 17 point lead. Donnie Bostwick, Oklahoma Wesleyan's Head Coach, put in his reserves, but the Bluejays proved that they weren't going away and cut the lead to nine with just under two minutes remaining and forced the Eagles' starters to return. The Eagles would go on to win by nine, but there were plenty of bright spots for the Bluejay men. Turnovers proved to be the thorn in the side for Tabor, with the Bluejays committing 21.
One particular bright spot for the Bluejay men was the return of Zach Hiebert. Hiebert returned to the Bluejays' lineup after a suffering a season-ending knee injury last year and will provide more depth to the team.

"We knew going into tonight that rebounding and taking care of the ball were going to be huge factors. I thought we rebounded it for the most part and obviously the turnovers really hurt us. Once they turned us over they got some easy shots and knocked them in. We did some really good things on both ends of the floor in spurts, but beating a top five team in the country requires 40 minutes of execution and toughness", said Tabor College Men's Basketball Head Coach Matt Warren.
The Bluejay Men will head down the road to North Newton and face Bethel College in what should be a fierce rivalry game on Saturday. The game will tip off at 7pm and will be broadcast on the KCAC Network and live stats will be available here.

Tabor College is a Christ-centered institution located in Hillsboro, Kansas. The Bluejyas are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and compete in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC).