Men's Basketball | 2/19/2010 12:00:00 AM
Box Score Sterling, Kan. – The McPherson College men’s basketball team struggled to stop the perimeter offense of the Sterling College Warriors Thursday night at the Gleason Center. The Warriors hit 16-of-29 three-pointers (55.2 percent) en route to an 87-72 defeat of the Bulldogs.
With the loss, McPherson (19-7, 12-5 KCAC) fails to lock up the second seed in the conference tournament, while the Warriors (10-17, 7-10 KCAC) move into a tie for seventh place with Tabor College with just one game remaining in the conference regular season.
Senior forward Antowine Lamb continued his dominant play, leading five Bulldogs in double figures. Lamb scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and 3-of-4 from the foul line, while pulling down 14 rebounds to record his seventh double double of the season. Marlon Dominique and Aaron Frazier also added 13, while Mike Reece chipped in 12 and Dwayne Thomas had 10. Frazier led the team with five assists and two steals in the effort.
As a team, McPherson shot 47.5 percent (28-of-59) from the field, including 86.7 percent from the free throw line. Despite the consistent offensive production, McPherson failed to shut down the Warrior three-point game, as SC torched the nets on 16-of-29 shooting (55.2 percent) from downtown. Three-point baskets made up 48 of SC’s 87 points.
Junior guard Zach Goodrich paced the Warrior attack with 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including 7-of-10 from beyond the three-point arc.
Goodrich was on fire from the start, hitting a three-pointer just 15 seconds into the game. However, McPherson held the game close until back-to-back three’s by Randy July gave Sterling a seven point cushion, 29-22 midway through the first half.
Kasey Miller nailed a three-pointer from the wing to bring the deficit to four, 31-27, but Sterling’s Trenton Stutzman answered with a three of his own. Unfortunately, for the Bulldogs four points is as close as they could shrink the Warrior lead the rest of the night.
Sterling extended its lead to 14, 47-33, at the end of the first 20 minutes after Goodrich nailed his fourth three of the half followed by a contested two as time expired.
In the second half, McPherson opened hitting just 3-of-10 from the floor as SC took the lead out to 21 points, 60-39, at the 15:48 mark. McPherson battled to get back into the game, but failed to pull the lead closer than 13 the rest of the game.
Sterling hot shooting continued throughout the game, finishing the contest hitting 51.7 percent from the field, including 16-of-20 (55.2 percent) from three-point range. Along with Goodrich’s 27 points, Randy July added 17, Trenton Stutzman 15, while Kenny McGrath finished out the double digit scorers with 12.
The Bulldogs continue their road swing with a trip to Bethel College on Saturday. The contest marks the final regular season game for McPherson. With a Bulldog win or a Bethany College loss, McPherson will lock up the second seed in the KCAC tournament. Tipoff between the Bulldogs and Threshers is set for 7:00 p.m. inside Thresher Gymnasium.
