OU Men's Basketball falls to conference leader, Tabor College

Tabor College Bluejays defeated the Ottawa University braves 91-70 at Wilson Field House on Wednesday January 21.

The game went back and forth between points, turnovers, and rebounds, but Tabor came out on top. Junior Preston Oakes led the team in scoring with 27 points and also tied with senior Alex Lundry in rebounds with five. Senior Adam Hasty had a team-high of five assists.

OU’s head coach, Andy Carrier, said they have had a lot of great wins this year but that night was just a tough night for them. “Tabor was really hitting on all cylinders and are extremely talented as well,” he said. “We didn’t have enough answers or guys going to the basket tonight. But we’ll bounce back,” Carrier said.

The team is not letting this loss get in the way of their goals. Senior Adam Hasty said he thinks they have a lot of room for improvement. “As far as where we stand, we haven’t played as well as we are capable of in conference. But now we can focus on what we need to improve on to get ready for the conference tournament.”

The team is using the loss as motivation to help them work together. “We have an extremely talented team,” Hasty said. “Our effort just isn’t always where it needs to be.”

In terms of defense and offense, the team has room for improvement in both areas, as does every team in the conference. “Our defense and offense have been both good and bad at times. We need to develop more consistency on both ends. To do that, our energy and intensity have to be a lot better,” Hasty said. “The goal is to become a better team rather than relying on individual talent.”

Coach Carrier said they have played enough basketball now so he thinks they know who they are and know what they have to do to be successful. “It starts on the defensive end. When we have energy, it actually generates some easy baskets,” Carrier said. “The team is at their best when they’re sharing the basketball and when the basketball is moving.”

Coach Carrier and the rest of the team are optimistic looking forward. “The things that we didn’t do well tonight we’ll work on in practice,” Carrier said. “We tell the guys all the time they can’t get too full of themselves or too high when they win and you can’t get too low when you lose.”

With that being said, the team is ready for the second half to the conference season and will continue to look forward. Hasty said they have an extremely talented team and he believes if they are able to come together as a team, there is not anyone that they cannot beat.