Wesleyan men rally to beat Tabor 72-71
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

Trey Sims drives in for the game winning layup as KWU rallied to beat Tabor 72-71

The last second heroic moments continue to add up for the Kansas Wesleyan men’s basketball program inside the walls of Muir Gym. After last year’s 56-55 win over Friends in the KCAC Championship on a fade away shot at the buzzer from Trey Sims, and the 35-foot game winning three from Tony Boone over Bethany on January 31, the Coyotes erased a six-point deficit in the final minute using a Sims lay up with 0.7 seconds remaining to get a 72-71 win over Tabor College on Saturday night.

The win secures the no.3 seed for the Coyotes in next week’s KCAC Post-Season Tournament which begins Monday with the “Play-In” games. The first round will be played on Thursday with Wesleyan facing no.6 seeded McPherson at 7 p.m., inside Muir Gym.

The Coyotes never led by more that a single point at any point during the game.

Willie McCarty gave Wesleyan a 5-4 lead with 17:14 left in the first half, but Tabor rallied using an 8-0 run to grab a seven point cushion with 13:40 left after Zach Vaneslow’s free throws.

Wesleyan (14-13, 12-6) would get back within three on a bucket from Sims with 11:07 to go before the break but the Bluejays would quickly open things back up.

A Jared Hett three started the 12-2 run for the Bluejays as Mike Stoecker used a three-point play to put Tabor up 28-15 with 6:48 left.

Wesleyan would not throw in the towel, instead turning the tides thanks to a 18-4 run, regaining the lead 33-32 with 56 seconds left before the half on a three from Sims.

Jordon Funk’s free throws with 33 seconds left gave Tabor a 34-33 lead at the break.

Aaron Whitelaw scored the first points of the second half for Tabor, pushing its lead to three, but four straight Coyote points gave Wesleyan a 37-36 lead with 17:46 left.

Tabor (12-16, 9-9) would answer back with seven straight to open up a six-point margin at 43-37 with 15:56 to go on another three from Hett.

Boone’s steal and layup with 14:50 left saw K-DUB get back within two at 43-41, but Tabor would rally pushing back out to a 48-41 advantage with 11:47 left on a free throw from Kyle deBlonk.

The Coyotes would hang in it with the Bluejays, getting within four points six times in the next nine-plus minutes, but never falling behind more than seven during that stretch. Sims converted a steal by Eric Hammond to cut the lead to two, when it seemed the wheels were coming off for the Coyotes.

Mychal Henderson was fouled on a rebound with 59.6 seconds left, and swung an elbow at Tabor’s Kyle Kroeker. Henderson immediately received a technical foul, and then slammed the ball on the floor so hard it went as high as the shot clocks mounted on top of the backboards in frustration. The official hesitated and then gave Henderson a second technical, ejecting him from the game.

Whitelaw converted all three free throws, turning what could have been a chance to take the tie or take the lead for the Coyotes into a six-point deficit at 70-64.

Milen Brown, who replaced Henderson, hit both bonus free throws to get the Coyotes back within four, and Hammond would hit one of two on the Coyotes next possession to get within three with 52.9 seconds left.

Whitelaw would hit one of two free throws with 23.9 left, but Vaneslow’s tip on the miss would fall away and Hammon would pull down the board.

Romero Hood’s three would get knocked out of bounds by Tabor giving Wesleyan another chance with 17 seconds left. A three from the right corner from Brown would get recovered by Hammond with eight seconds left and Boone would drill a triple from the right wing to get Wesleyan within one with 5.6 seconds left.

After a KWU timeout, Tabor would give the ball back to Wesleyan under their own hoop with 3.9 left when Mike Stoecker would lose the ball out of bounds.

Sims would put the Coyotes up 72-71 with 0.7 left on a play where Tabor’s defense pretty much forgot to defend. Sims took the inbounds pass on the right wing, made a spin move and drove in wide open to the hole for the score.

After a Tabor timeout, Stoecker’s baseball pass to the other end was picked off in the air by Hood, but he landed out of bounds. The officials ruled to put 0.3 seconds back on the clock, setting up what had to be a tip play from the Bluejays.

After another timeout, Kroeker’s shot from the right elbow would bounce off the front iron sealing the win for the Coyotes.

Sims led all scorers in the game with 20, while Henderson recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, as did McCarty with 10 points and 11 boards. Wesleyan was 28-for-79 from the field for 35.4 percent. Sims had nine rebounds to help the Coyotes draw even with Tabor at 39 total rebounds. The Coyotes also turned 18 Tabor turnovers into 18 points.

Whitelaw led Tabor with 15, while Orson Thomas had 13 and Hett added 10 as the Bluejays were 24-of-60 from the field for 40 percent. Vaneslow led the way with nine rebounds.

Wesleyan will host No.6 seed McPherson on Thursday in the first round of the KCAC Post-Season Tournament at 7 p.m. inside Muir Gym. The winner will advance on to play the winner of No.2 seeded Friends and the winner of Monday’s Saint Mary at Tabor play-in contest.

-- KWU SI --