Men's Basketball | 12/10/2011 10:12:00 PM
Box Score Box Score
McPherson, Kan. – Samson Shivers (Houston, Texas) finished the night with 18 points, but none more important than his jumper at the buzzer, as the No. 7 McPherson College men’s basketball team knocked off No. 25 University of Saint Mary, 87-86, Saturday evening in Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference play.
With the win, McPherson enters the holiday break with a 14-1 overall record and 4-0 mark in conference play, while the Spires fall to 9-3 overall and 2-2 in the league.
Kenny Berry, Jr. (Lee's Summit, Mo.) converted one of two free throw attempts to give the Bulldogs an 85-84 lead with 0:29 remaining. Saint Mary, however, following a timeout took its first lead of the contest, 85-86, on a Jordan Wilcox runner. After a quick inbounds pass to Berry, who dribbled in and around the entire Spire defense before finding Shivers in the corner. Shivers took one quick dribble then heaved the game winner as time expired.
In addition to Shivers,
Aaron Frazier (McPherson, Kan.) had 17 points, while Berry added 16 points and
Jordan Crawford (McPherson, Kan.) chipped in 11 points, respectively. Crawford also added a team-high eight rebounds.
As a team, McPherson ended the contest shooting 45.3 percent (29-of-64) from the field and 66.7 percent (26-for-39) from the foul line. Defensively, the Bulldogs forced 16 Spire turnovers, but were outrebounded in the contest 44-38.
In the first half, the Bulldogs controlled the tempo from the start, jumping out to an 18-9 following a
Kasey Miller (Derby, Kan.) 3-pointer. McPherson grew its lead out to as many as 31-15 before the Spires, aided by a more than two-minute stretch without an MC field goal, to cut the lead to 51-40 at the break.
McPherson shot an impressive 20-of-37 from the field, but struggled from beyond the arc (2-for-7) and at the foul line (9-of-16).
Unlike the first half, MC struggled offensively for a majority of the second period. The Spires capped a 17-8 run with a pair of Kevin Harvey free throws to tie the score 78-78 with 4:11 left in regulation. The two sides traded field goals the remainder of the half before Shivers converted the game winning field goal. The Bulldogs only converted three field goals over the final 12 minutes of regulation.
Brandon Dougherty and JEB Greenberg paced the Spires with 19 points each, while Marc McGrory chipped in 15 points. As a team, USM finished the game shooting 47.0 percent (31-of-66) from the field.
The Bulldogs return to action on Friday, Dec. 16 when they travel to Kansas City, Mo. for an exhibition with NCAA Division II Rockhurst University (Mo.). Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. (CT).
