Men's Basketball | 1/24/2010 12:00:00 AM
Box Score Salina, Kan. – The McPherson College men’s basketball team suffered its second straight conference road loss Saturday night against Kansas Wesleyan University, 69-47. With the loss, the Bulldogs drop to 15-4 and 8-2 in league play, but remain only one game behind KCAC leader Friends University.
McPherson opened the game on a 13-7 run, including seven points from senior guard Mike Reece. However, the Bulldogs could not sustain the momentum, as Kansas Wesleyan guard Matthew Dickman put the teams on his shoulders, scoring 10 points in the Coyotes 15-4 run to end the half. During the KWU streak, the Bulldogs were held without a field goal for nearly three minutes. Kansas Wesleyan entered the locker room up, 34-26.
In the first half, the Bulldogs shot a near season worst 29.6 (8-of-27) percent from the field, while the Coyotes connected on 41.4 (12-of-29) percent, including 57.1 (6-of-11) percent from beyond the three point arc. Reece led all McPherson scorers with seven points, while KWU’s Dickman lit up the scoreboard with 16 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field, including converting on 3-of-3 attempts from three-point range.
Kansas Wesleyan opened the second half just as they ended the first, with a 7-2 run to push their lead out to 41-28. The Bulldogs capitalized on a Marlon Dominique jumper and a pair of Mike Reece free throws to narrow the gap to seven, 43-36.
However, the zone defense and consistent shooting of the Coyotes stopped the McPherson run in its tracks. KWU broke the game wide open with a 21-5 run spanning nearly 10 minutes to take a 67-41 lead at the 3:36 mark in the second half. The run was capped by a Willie McCarty layup through traffic.
McPherson would end the game on a 6-2 mini-run, led by four points from forward Antowine Lamb, but the deficit was too much for the Bulldogs.
Reece finished the night as the only Bulldog in double figures with 13 points. Ten of Reece’s 13 points came at the free throw line. He posted five rebounds and two steals in the effort.
As a team, the Bulldogs finished the night with a season worst 27.5 percent field goal percentage, including a dismal 3-of-17 from beyond the three-point arc.
Kansas Wesleyan ended the contest shooting 47.2 (25-of-53) percent from the field, including 41.2 (7-of-17) percent from beyond the three-point range. The Coyotes forced McPherson into 19 turnovers, which they converted into 11 steals and 21 points.
Dickman led the Coyotes with a game-high 20 points, while McCarty added 14 and Mekan Moss chipped in 13.
McPherson returns to action Thursday, Jan. 28, as they travel to Ottawa University. Action is set to begin at 8:00 p.m. in Ottawa, Kan.
