Men's Basketball | 2/14/2010 12:00:00 AM
Box Score McPherson, Kan. – A nine-point swing on three consecutive Falcon three-pointers proved to be too much for the McPherson College men’s basketball team to recover from, as the Bulldogs were edged by Friends, 63-60, Saturday night at the McPherson Sport Center.
With the loss, McPherson drops to 19-6 overall and 12-4 in KCAC play, while the Falcons lock up the KCAC regular season championship with a 15-1 mark in the league, 20-6 overall.
The Bulldogs finished the contest shooting 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the field, but struggled from the foul line converting only 4-of-11 free throws. McPherson out-rebounded the Falcons, 38-35, but turned the ball over a game-high 15 times. Defensively, MC held Friends to only 38.6 percent shooting from the field, but the Falcons scored 21 points from beyond the three-point arc and connected on 12-of-17 trips to the foul line.
Senior forward Antowine Lamb scored a game-high 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field, while pulling down a team-high seven rebounds. Sophomore Aaron Frazier was the only other Bulldog in double figures with 13 points.
McPherson opened the game stone cold from the field, as the Falcons jumped out to an early 11-0 lead. It took the Bulldogs a majority of the first half to catch up, eventually tying the game on a Dwayne Thomas layup set up by a pass from Aaron Frazier, 21-21. Lamb finished the first half with a power block to prevent Chris Jackson an easy two.
The Bulldogs entered the locker room down one, 26-25 at the end of the first 20 minutes.
McPherson shot 40.0 percent, but failed to convert on seven three-point attempts and made only 1-of-7 free throws.
A Mike Reece layup in traffic followed by a Lamb turnaround jumper in the lane gave the Bulldogs their largest lead of the night, 31-28 with 15:58 left in the game. Friend answered with a couple of scores of their own to take back the lead 34-31.
Both sides traded baskets for a majority of the second half, until a Lamb put-back dunk gave MC a five point, 53-48 lead. Despite the momentum in McPherson’s favor, the Falcons answered back with two Romero Jones free throws and a nine-point swing behind three consecutive three-pointers.
The Bulldogs cut the lead to three, but could not overtake the Falcons.
The Bulldogs return to action Thursday, Feb. 18, as they travel to Sterling College. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
