HILLSBORO, Kan. — No. 9-ranked Southwestern College (16-2, 11-2) defeated Tabor college (8-11, 5-8), 84-59.

For the first eight minutes of the game both teams kept each other within striking distance, trading baskets separated by only two- and three-point leads.

Cevin Clark, Jarvis Jennings, and Justin DeMaria combined to stretch the first half lead up to 13 points with seven minutes left in the half and ended up with a 42-32 halftime lead.

The NAIA's No. 1 scorer in the country at 26.7 points per game, Clark, had 10 first half points and finished with a game high 19 points, to lead all scorers.

Jennings had 11 first half points and finished with 15 points.

Andrew O'Brien had 12 points and nine rebounds.

Mason Thiessen added 12 points and seven rebounds. Zach Hidalgo also snatched seven rebounds. Southwestern dominated the boards, out rebounding Tabor 46-28.

DeMaria had five first half points, finished with nine points.

Southwestern's deep bench outscored Tabor 33 points to 20 points. SC shot an impressive 50.7 percent from the field and 26.3 percent beyond the arc.

The Builders were able to limit Tabor to 38.6 percent shooting for the game and pulled away in the second half for the 84-59 win.

Southwestern will be traveling to Nebraska at York University (7-11, 5-7) on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 4pm.