Men's Basketball | 12/6/2011 12:43:00 PM
Game 14: No. 7 McPherson College (12-1, 2-0) vs. Sterling College (3-7, 1-1)
Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011 | 8 p.m. (CT) | McPherson Sport Center | McPherson, Kan.
Game Notes (PDF)
Live Video
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McPherson, Kan. - The No. 7 McPherson College men’s basketball team returns home for the first time since before Thanksgiving, as the Bulldogs host conference rival Sterling College this Thursday, Dec. 8. The meeting is the first between the two sides since last year’s KCAC tournament championships, which Sterling defeated McPherson, 77-62.
Tipoff at the McPherson Sport Center is set for 8 p.m. (CT) and the game will be shown live on the KCAC Broadcast Network and at Macbulldogs.com. The midweek contest will also be broadcast live in the McPherson area on 96.7 FM KBBE MidKansas Radio with Nick Gosnell and former Bulldog head coach Roger Trimmell on the call.
The Bulldogs have successfully bounced back from their Thanksgiving weekend loss at Hastings (Neb.) with wins at Bethel (82-47) and Tabor (75-69) to open Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference play. The victories improve McPherson to 12-1 on the season and 2-0 in league action, while propelling MC to the No. 7 ranking in the latest NAIA D-II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 poll.
In their last time out against Tabor, McPherson overcame 16 turnovers with a 71.9 percent (23-of-32) free throw percentage to earn a hard-fought road victory. Additionally, the Bulldogs shot 42.1 percent (24-of-57) from the field as all five starters scored in double figures. Guard
Samson Shivers (Houston, Texas) paced McPherson with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting, while forward
Jordan Crawford (McPherson, Kan.) posted his second straight double-double (third of the season) with 15 points and a season-high 16 rebounds. The Bulldogs also held a 45-35 edge in rebounding, including an 11-7 edge in offensive rebounds.
Jordan Crawford, who earned this week’s KCAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week award, is averaging 14.5 points and 14.5 rebounds so far in conference play, while Shivers continues to be a major scoring threat, averaging 16.5 points per game in MC’s last two games.
Guard
Aaron Frazier (McPherson, Kan.) continues to lead McPherson on the defensive end with a team-high 31 steals and 11 blocked shots. Frazier’s steal total currently leads the NAIA. In addition to defense, Frazier is second on the team in scoring and rebounding at 15.6 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game.
Sterling enters the contest with a disappointing 3-7 overall record and 1-1 mark in conference play following a 81-74 victory against Southwestern last Saturday. Prior to Southwestern, the Warriors had dropped 7-of-8, including their KCAC opener against Saint Mary (63-58). Despite the record, SC possesses a talented offense that ranks second in conference with a 46.1 percent success rate from the field.
Following Sterling, McPherson closes the pre-holiday portion of its KCAC schedule with a matchup against No. 25 Saint Mary. Tipoff between the Bulldogs and Spires is scheduled for 7 p.m. (CT)
Scouting Sterling
Sterling, who entered the season as the defending KCAC regular season and tournament champion and held the No. 20 preseason ranking, has had a disappointing start to the season, as the Warriors enter Thursday night with a 3-7 overall record and 1-1 mark in league play following an 81-74 home victory against Southwestern. Prior to the Builders, Sterling had lost 7-of-8 with their only win during the stretch coming against Johnson & Wales (Colo.) on Nov. 18.
In SC’s victory against Southwestern, the Warriors posted their fourth game of 50 percent or better shooting from the field, converting 29-of-58 attempts (50.0 percent), but struggled from beyond the arc shooting only nine percent (1-for-11). Forward Adam Brown with his second double-double of the year with a season-high 25 points and 11 rebounds. Five of Brown’s rebound total came on the offensive end. Forward Cody Brazelton joined Brown in double-digits with 16 points. Brazelton also chipped in eight rebounds.
On the year, Sterling’s high-powered offense that ranks second in the conference in field goal percentage offense (46.1 percent) is led by the three-headed monster of Brazelton, Brown and guard Trenton Stutzman. Brazelton, a first team All-KCAC and third team NAIA All-American a year ago, leads the team in scoring with a 17.4 points per game average, while ranking second on the squad with 5.6 rebounds per game. He has scored in double figures in all 10 games this season, including a season-high 27 points against Texas Wesleyan on Nov. 11.
Stutzman is second on the team at 14.1 points per game, while leading the team with 32 3-point field goals, 14 steals and an 84.4 free throw percentage. Stutzman’s 32 3-pointers and free throw percentage both rank amongst the top 20 nationally. He finished last year with selection to the All-KCAC honorable mention team and to the all-defensive squad.
Brown, who is in his first season as a starter, rounds out the trio with a 12.7 points per game average on an NAIA leading 74.6 percent field goal percentage (53-of-71). The Houston, Texas native also leads the team with 6.1 rebounds per game.
Much of SC’s struggles in the early part of the 2011-12 season can be attributed to their play on the defensive end. The Warriors currently rank last in the conference in field goal percentage defense at 48.7 percent, while ranking seventh in scoring defense (76.3).
In their last meeting...
Wichita, Kan. – The backcourt duo of Zach Goodrich and Zach Poole combined for 47 points, as the Sterling College Warriors defeated the McPherson College Bulldogs, 77-62, in the KCAC championship game Monday night at Hartman Arena. The title is the first in the tournament for the Warriors since 2004.
Poole finished the contest with a season-high 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including a 6-of-8 effort from 3-point range, while Goodrich tallied a game-high 25 points, including 14 in the second half.
As a unit, the Warriors finished the contest with a 47.8 percent (22-of-46) from the floor, 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from 3-point range and 62.2 percent (23-37) from the free throw line.
Forward Mason Hewitt, who entered the season 0-for-3 from beyond the 3-point line, connected on a pair of three’s en route to a team-high 10 points off the bench. He was the lone Bulldog in double figure scorer.
As a team, the Bulldogs converted 22-of-60 attempts from the floor (36.7 percent), but were just 19.4 percent (6-of-31) from beyond the three-point line. It was the lowest 3-point shooting percentage since McPherson played Tabor College on February 10.
After trading baskets for the initial eight minutes of the first period, Sterling rattled off a 6-0 run to take a 24-22 lead with 4:15 remaining. Four of Sterling free throws highlighted the stretch.
McPherson answered back with a 5-0 stretch of its own to take a 29-28 lead with just under two minutes left in the period. Guard Samson Shivers closed the period on a high note for McPherson with a jumper from the corner to knot the score, 31-31, into the break.
The Bulldogs shot 40.0 percent from the floor, while the Warriors hit 35.7 percent of attempts. Sterling was 8-of-9 from the free throw line.
Sterling opened the second period as the aggressor, outscoring McPherson 13-4 over the initial five minutes of the half to force a Bulldog timeout. Following a pair of MC free throws, Poole and Goodrich teamed up for back-to-back 3-pointers to give SC a 53-38 lead with 11:51 left.
McPherson attempted to gain ground by fouling, but to no avail, as Sterling converted 15-of-26 free throws down the stretch en route to the 15-point victory.
