Men's Basketball | 1/12/2011 9:48:09 AM
Game 18: McPherson College (8-9, 2-4 KCAC) at Bethany (6-10, 4-2 KCAC)
Thursday, January 13, 2011 | 8:00 p.m. | Hahn Gymnasium | Lindsborg, Kan.
Game Notes (PDF)
Live Audio
The Matchup
The McPherson College men’s team looks to get back track following an overtime loss against Tabor College last Saturday night, as the Bulldogs continue KCAC play with a Thursday night road trip to Bethany College.
Tipoff between the Bulldogs and Swedes is set for 8:00 p.m. from Hahn Gymnasium. Thursday’s game will be carried in the McPherson area by 96.7 FM KBBE Mid-Kansas Radio and feature Bulldog play-by-play announcer Nick Gosnell. An audio stream will also be available at www.macbulldogs.com.
Cold shooting late in the second half doomed the Bulldogs (8-9, 2-4 KCAC) in their last game against Tabor College. McPherson opened the second period with a 17-6 run, but hit just three field goals in the final eight minutes as the Blue Jays came from behind to tied the score, 63-63, at the end of regulation. Tabor carried that momentum into the overtime period to earn the 75-72 victory. In the loss, junior forward
Jordan Crawford (McPherson, Kan.) led MC with 16 points and seven rebounds off the bench, while freshman guard
Samson Shivers (Houston, Texas) tallied 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting.
The Bulldogs are 4-4 in road games this season with their last victory away from the Sport Center coming on December 11 at Friends University.
Bethany (6-10, 4-2 KCAC) enter the midweek matchup 2-3 in their last five after a 70-68 loss at Bethel College last weekend. Despite their below .500 record, Bethany leads the KCAC in points per game (76.5), field goal percentage (46.0 percent) and three-point field goal percentage (39.0 percent.).
After Bethany, McPherson continues league play with a road trip to the University of Saint Mary on Saturday, January 15. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
Scouting the Swedes
The Swedes enter Thursday’s game with a 6-10 overall mark and a 4-2 record in KCAC play following a disappointing, 70-68, against Bethel College last Saturday night. In that game, the two sides were almost identical statistically except that the Threshers converted three more free throw attempts than the Swedes. Trey Beachum and Jack Sadowy led the way with 17 points apiece in the loss. Bethany shot 45.3 percent, including 4-for-13 from three-point range, but were outrebounded 40-31.
Bethany returns six players from last year’s team that went 18-13 and made a run to the championship game of the KCAC tournament. This season, the Swedes opened the campaign with four straight losses, but are 6-6 since, including winning four of six conference games.
Trey Beachum leads BC team with four players averaging double figures with 13.5 points per game, while shooting 47.0 percent (79-of-168) from the field. Vincent Ferguson ranks second on the squad at 13.3 points per game, while Hayden Parks is third at 13.2. Park leads the Swedes with 86 total rebounds (5.4 per game). Quenton Jennings rounds out the double-digit scorers for Bethany at 12.2 points per game.
Head coach Clair Oleen is in his 32nd year at Bethany College and 18th year as head coach of the men’s basketball program.
In their last meeting...
McPherson, Kan. – In a game that was tied 72-72 with 1:30 remaining, the McPherson College men’s basketball team came up just short in a 73-72 loss to inter-county rival Bethany College Thursday night at the McPherson Sport Center.
With both teams in the double bonus, Bethany guard Rodd Williams on a rebound attempt off a Marlon Dominique field goal. The 5-11 senior connected on one of two attempts, giving McPherson a chance to win with 8.2 seconds left. Dominique broke the Swedes press, before finding Aaron Frazier with a fade away three as time expired. Frazier’s three-pointer fell just short as the buzzer sounded.
With the loss, McPherson drops to 17-4 overall and 10-3 in league play, while the Swedes improve to 12-11 and 8-5 in KCAC action.
Senior forward Antowine Lamb led MC with 17 points and 12 rebounds for his second straight double double (fourth on the season). Fellow senior Mike Reece added 16 points and four assists, while sophomore Aaron Frazier had 14 and senior Dwayne Thomas chipped in 11.
McPherson shot 51.9 percent (27-of-52) from the field, including 37.5 percent (3-of-8) from beyond the three-point line. Despite the consistent shooting from the field, the Bulldogs struggled from the foul line converting only 15-of-30 (50.0 percent) of attempts.
Similarly to McPherson, Bethany ended the night 25-of-61 (41.0 percent) from the field and 9-of-23 (39.1 percent) from three-point range. But the Swedes were 14-of-19 (73.7 percent) from the foul line, including 13-of-16 (81.3 percent) in the second half. Junior forward Vincent Ferguson led five Swedes in double figures with 18 points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds and one blocked shot.
The game started slow as the teams combined for only 16 points over the first six minutes. An 11-0 McPherson run, capped by a Mike Reece layup off a feed from Dominique gave the Bulldogs at 18-9 lead with 10 minutes left in the half. Bethany charged back with a 9-0 run of their own to cut the Bulldog lead to one 18-17, but two straight points by Lamb and a three from freshman Kasey Miller pushed the MC lead back to five, 27-22 with five minutes remaining.
BC missed four of their last five field goal attempts as McPherson entered halftime with a 37-30 lead. MC converted 59.3 percent from the field in the first half, but converted only 2-of-7 trips to the foul line to allow Bethany to stay close.
Out of the break, Lamb scored three of McPherson’s first four baskets to give the Bulldogs their first double-digit lead of the night, 45-34 with 16:31 remaining.
MC maintained the double-digit advantage until BC rattled off an 11-3 run to cut the deficit to four, 59-55 with just under 10 minutes to play.
Bethany tied the game, 70-70 with 2:24 remaining, before using free throws to overcome the McPherson attack. The Swedes outscored McPherson 24-16 over the final 12 minutes of the game.
