Hillsboro, Kan. – The No. 20-ranked Friends University Falcons battled back from a 13-point halftime deficit and grinded out a 74-71 overtime victory at the Tabor College Bluejays this evening (Feb. 4) in Hillsboro, Kan. The Falcons have now won four straight to improve to 20-3 overall and remain in second place in the KCAC with a 14-3 league record, two games back of front-runner Evangel University.
With the game tied for the sixth time at the 2:54 mark of the extra session, a score by Abigail Barr put the Falcons ahead to stay and then a bucket inside from Lauryn McIver extended the lead to 70-66 with 1:22 left.
Now up 71-69, McIver stepped up and hit two crucial free throws and then one more from the charity stripe to ice the big road win for the Falcons.
The Falcons' performance in the third quarter made it possible to pull off the comeback victory. Barr led the charge and scored 10 points, including a go-ahead three-point play to cap a 22-7 spurt and give Friends its first lead of the game at 43-41 at the 3:06 mark.
Katie Weiss was also critical in the third period, scoring seven points overall and hitting a bucket inside to give the Falcons a 47-44 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Falcons then gained some breathing room in the early part of the final period behind another basket from Barr and a trey by McIver for their biggest lead of the night of 52-44.
Tabor had another push in them and got consecutive scores from Landry O'Brien that fueled a 13-2 burst to put the Bluejays back in front 57-54 with 2:44 remaining.
But McIver scored to make it a one-point game and KK Peeler had a now characteristic critical defensive sequence with a steal and layup to put the Falcons back on top.
After Barr scored again inside, Kaylee Kauffman hit a game-tying three for the Bluejays to send the game into overtime.
Friends struggled early on and fell into a 10-2 deficit before rallying within 13-10 by the end of the first quarter.
The Bluejays then outscored the Falcons 21-11 in the second period, including 15-7 over the final 7:28 to lead 34-21 at the break.
Playing without leading scorer Rayland Garner, the duo of Barr and McIver stepped up in a big way to power the Falcons to the win. Barr scored a season-high 26 points, while McIver produced a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds along with a team-best five assists. Weiss finished with 10 points for Friends, who has reached the 20-win mark for the third time under head coach Dean Jaderston.
Lillie Veer led the Bluejays with 15 points, with O'Brien scoring 11 and Megan Shafer adding 10 points.
The Falcons were outrebounded 35-28 and 16-7 on the offensive glass but managed to outshoot the Bluejays 51.7 percent to 44.6 percent. Friends played particularly stingy defense on the perimeter, limiting Tabor to just a 22.7 percent clip from beyond the arc.
Next up, the Falcons will play at Ottawa University on Saturday (Feb. 7) at 1 pm in Ottawa, Kan. before embarking on a three-game homestand.
