Men's Basketball | 2/18/2011 3:26:42 PM
Game 29: McPherson College (17-11, 11-6 KCAC) at RV Sterling College (17-10, 13-4 KCAC)
Saturday, February 19, 2011 | 7:00 p.m. | Warrior Gymnasium | Sterling, Kan.
Game Notes (PDF)
Live Audio
The Matchup
Following a big home win against the University of Saint Mary Thursday night, the McPherson College men’s basketball team looks to solidify its position in the KCAC postseason tournament this weekend, as the Bulldogs travel to KCAC regular season champion Sterling College Saturday evening.
Tipoff for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. inside Warrior Gymnasium in Sterling, Kan. The contest will be broadcast in the McPherson area by 96.7 FM KBBE Mid-Kansas Radio with Nick Gosnell on the call. An audio stream for out of market listeners will be available at www.macbulldogs.com.
The Bulldogs (17-11, 11-6) are riding a nine game win streak, which began on January 19 when MC knocked off Sterling, 91-83, in double overtime. On Thursday, McPherson defeated the University of Saint Mary, 83-57, to extend the streak. Junior guard
Aaron Frazier (McPherson, Kan.) set a career-high with 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting, while junior forward
Jordan Crawford (McPherson, Kan.) added 20 points. Fifteen of Crawford’s 20 came in the second period.
As a team, McPherson shot a season-high 52.5 percent (31-of-59) from the floor and was 16-of-21 from the foul line. Defensively, MC held the Spires to 32.0 percent shooting, while forcing 16 turnovers.
Thursday’s win put the Bulldogs in a tie for second place with Tabor College. This is an important position, because if the regular season champion – Sterling College – also wins the tournament championship the second seed receives the conferences additional bid to the NAIA D-II National Tournament.
Senior guard
Trent Severs (Inman, Kan.), who was honored Thursday night as MC’s lone senior, is on the brink of history, as he is just nine assists shy of tying Jonathan Coachman’s single season record of 153 total assists. Severs has 14 games of at least five assists, including a pair of 10 assist performances against USM and Ottawa.
Sterling (17-10, 13-4 KCAC) locked up its second regular season championship in the last three years with a 63-49 win at Bethel College on Thursday night. The Warriors shot 49.0 percent from the field, including 54.2 percent in the second half, while forcing 20 Thresher turnovers in the win. Junior forward Cody Brazelton recorded a game-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting to lead three Warriors in double digits.
No matter the outcome of Saturday’s game, the Bulldogs will be at home on Wednesday, February 23 to host the opening round of the KCAC tournament. Tipoff for the game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Scouting Sterling
Sterling comes into the weekend with a 17-10 overall mark, including a 13-4 record in KCAC. The Warrior, who received six votes in the latest NAIA Top 25, locked up the KCAC regular season championship with a 63-49 win at Bethel College on Thursday night. The victory is SC’s seventh in the last eight.
Against Bethel, the Warriors shot 49.0 percent from the field, while forcing 20 Bethel turnovers en route to the victory. Junior forward Cody Brazelton tallied a game-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while sophomore Zach Poole added 13 and junior Trenton Stutzman recorded 12 points in the win.
Junior forward Cody Brazelton, who sat out the 2009-10 season, has emerged as one of SC’s most prolific players, averaging 15.1 points and 7.0 rebounds per game to rank in the top three in the league in both categories. In his last seven games, Brazelton is averaging 18.6 points per game, including a 31 point effort against Kansas Wesleyan on February 10. Despite missing seven games, senior guard Zach Goodrich remains a dangerous player for opposing defenses ranking third on the team at 13.2 points per game. He leads the team with 109 assist and is second with 33 steals.
As a unit, Sterling is allowing opponents 66.6 points per game, while averaging 71.6. One of the best shooting teams in the conference, the Warriors lead the league with a 45.5 percent field goal percentage.
The Warriors are coached by Dean Jaderston and assisted by Luke Cureton, Cecil Smart and Matt Jaderston.
In their last meeting...
McPherson, Kan. – Five Bulldogs scored in double figures, as the McPherson College men’s basketball team snapped a three-game winless streak with a, 91-83, double overtime victory against Sterling College Wednesday night.
The Bulldogs (9-11, 3-6 KCAC) jumped out to a quick 12-2 lead as five different Bulldogs accounted for the teams first six field goals to fuel the hot start.
However, Sterling (10-9, 6-3 KCAC), who entered the contest riding a six-game win streak, cut the deficit to three, 16-13, following a pair of Zach Poole three-pointers with a little less than ten minutes remaining in the period. McPherson stretched their lead back out to nine three minutes later when junior forward Jordan Crawford (McPherson, Kan.) hit a pair of his own to make the score 26-17. The two sides traded baskets the remainder of the half as McPherson led at intermission, 36-30.
The Bulldogs shot an impressive 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the field, while forcing Sterling into nine turnovers. Senior guard Trent Severs (Inman, Kan.), who entered the night ranked 12th nationally in total assists, posted eight assists in the period, while freshman guard Samson Shivers (Houston, Texas) led the team with nine points.
Junior guard Aaron Frazier (McPherson, Kan.) opened the second half with a layup off a Warrior turnover. However, Sterling again would not go away, as the Warriors rattled off an 11-2 run to take their first lead since the opening basket, 41-40, with 15:08 left in regulation.
The two teams traded the lead over the next five minutes, before the Bulldogs went dead cold from the field. MC failed to connect on a field goal for nearly seven minutes of the second period, but strong defensive play and timely free throw shooting kept the game close, 60-59 with less than four minutes left in regulation. Raheem Odomes gave Sterling a two-point lead with less than a minute left, but Severs answered the call with a running layup in the paint to knot the score, 66-66, and send the game into overtime.
In the first overtime, neither side could gain an advantage as both teams shot better than 65 percent from the floor and remained tied, 78-78.
Following a Sterling miss, Crawford connected on two free throws to give MC the initial, 80-78 lead in overtime number two. That start proved to be the positive momentum the Bulldogs needed, as MC converted 7-of-9 free throw attempts to gain the eight-point win.
Shivers led MC with 18 points that included a 7-of-8 night from the free throw line, while Frazier added 17 and Mason Hewitt (Norwich, Kan.)chipped in 16. Junior guard Adam Bruner (McPherson, Kan.) tallied a near season-best 11 points and Crawford rounded out the Bulldog double figure scorers with 10 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. The Bulldogs shot 48.6 percent (35-of-72) from the field for the game, 33.3 percent (5-of-15) from three-point range and 69.6 percent (16-of-23) from the free throw line.
Sterling guard Zach Goodrich led all scorers with 24 points to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists.
