The Lowdown: Tabor College at Friends University

Location: Garvey Center

When: Wednesday, Jan.3 @ 8 pm

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Flying with the Falcons: The Friends University Falcons pick back up KCAC action in 2024 with a 4-6 overall record and a 2-4 conference mark.

KJ Spiller leads the Falcons in scoring with 14.0 points per game, followed by Kee'on Hutton with 11.5 ppg. Tim Barbieri has secured a team-leading 6.3 rebounds and Steele Chapman has dished out a team-high 2.7 assists on the season.  

As a team, the Falcons are shooting 47.8 percent overall from the floor and a solid 37.9 percent from the perimeter.

Scouting the Bluejays: The Tabor College Bluejays have dropped their last four games to come in at 4-8 overall and 1-5 in the KCAC. In their most recent outing, the Bluejays fell 95-62 at No. 13-ranked Northwestern College (Dec. 30).

Thatcher McClure is tops on the Bluejays in scoring (15.3 ppg) and is tied for the team-lead in rebounding with Kenyon Holcombe at 7.0 rpg. Jack Voth is second in scoring at 14.7 ppg and is the fifth-best three-point shooter in the KCAC, hitting 44.4 percent of his shots from long distance. Kalep Crane is scoring 13.4 ppg, while Jake Proctor leads Tabor with 2.1 assists per game this season.

The Series: The history on record between the Falcons and Bluejays is nearly dead even, with Friends holding a narrow 22-21 edge dating back to 2004. The Falcons swept the season series last year and have won nine of the last 10 meetings overall. Friends is 9-12 at home vs. Tabor during that stretch, but have emerged victorious in four of the last five matchups in Wichita.         

Quoting head coach Phil McClintock:     

"We are excited to get back to conference play against Tabor. We have a stretch of games at home to start the year and we need to take advantage. They are a very talented team but if we play together on both ends, we have a chance to win."

Boarding School: The Falcons have won all three games this season when leading in rebounding, but are just 1-5 when the opposition holds the edge on the glass.  Friends also lost the only time that the rebounds were even.

Straight Shooters: The Falcons are 4-1 when outshooting the opposition, but have lost all five times that the opposing team leads in field-goal percentage.

Sponsor Alerts: Friends University Athletics is excited to have Home2 Suites by Hilton back as an official athletic sponsor this season! For more on what they can offer, click HERE to visit their official webpage.

Falcons by the Numbers:

Overall record: 4-6

KCAC: 2-4

Home: 3-2

Road: 1-4

Neutral: 0-0

When scoring:                                             

Under 50 points: 0-0

50-59 points: 0-0

60-69 points: 0-1

70-79 points: 2-3

80-89 points: 0-1

90+ points: 2-1

When allowing:

Under 50 points:

50-59 points: 2-0

60-69 points: 1-0

70-79 points: 0-0

80-89 points: 0-3

90+ points: 1-3

When leading at halftime: 2-2

When trailing at halftime: 2-4

When tied at halftime: 0-0

When committing fewer turnovers: 3-3

When committing more turnovers: 1-3

When turnovers are tied: 0-0

When leading in field-goal percentage: 4-1

When trailing in field-goal percentage: 0-5

When field-goal percentage is tied: 0-0

When leading in three-point percentage: 2-3

When trailing in three-point percentage: 2-3

When three-point percentage is tied: 0-0

When leading in rebounding: 3-0

When trailing in rebounding: 1-5

When rebounding is tied: 0-1

When leading in assists: 3-1

When trailing in assists: 1-5

When assists are tied: 0-0

In OT: 0-0

The Coaches:

Phil McClintock is in his first season as head coach of the Friends University men's basketball program.

McClintock brings a stark familiarity of the KCAC to Friends, highlighted by an eight-year tenure as Associate Men's Basketball Head Coach at Ottawa University.

At Ottawa, McClintock served as the recruiting coordinator and was responsible for film breakdown and scouting reports.

2019-20 was a breakout season, as McClintock brought in six of the team's top 10 players that produced a school-record 28 victories, a regular season KCAC championship and an NAIA Sweet 16 appearance (tournament ended early due to COVID-19).

In addition to his basketball coaching experience at Ottawa, McClintock has also been the Braves Men's and Women's Golf head coach for the past four seasons.

McClintock's first basketball head coaching position came at Salem high school, where he spent three seasons and guided the team in the 2014-15 campaign to their first winning record in eight years.

A strong developer of young players, McClintock has served as a Camp Coach at the KU Bill Self Basketball Camps every year since 2012. His responsibilities at the camp include running drills, coaching teams and developing player skills.

His first career coaching job was a two-year tenure as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at William Woods University from 2010-12.

McClintock also played collegiately at Ottawa and enjoyed immense success, earning two NAIA All-America honors, a pair of All-KCAC nods while finishing his career as the all-time leader in blocked shots and top five all-time in scoring, rebounding and steals. An Ottawa University Hall of Fame inductee in 2021, he helped the Braves to two conference titles and a pair of NAIA Sweet 16 berths.

A 2009 graduate of Ottawa University in Physical Education and Health, McClintock then earned his Master of Education in Athletics/Activities Administration from William Woods University in 2012.

McClintock and his wife Kirsten have three boys, Lawson (14), Jackson (10), and Bodie (two).

Matt Warren is in his second season at the helm of the Tabor College men's basketball program. Prior to arriving at Tabor, Warren spent five seasons as the associate head coach at Warner University (Fla.), where he helped the program win three Sun Conference regular season championships.    

Up Next: The Falcons are back at the Garvey for a 3 pm tip-off Saturday (Jan. 6) vs. York University.   

Don't miss out on the Men's Basketball Falcons' three-game homestand, purchase tickets now!