Men's Basketball | 11/1/2012 4:31:00 PM
McPherson, Kan. – Bulldog basketball is set to host its first home basketball game of the 2012-13 campaign this Friday, November 2, at 8:00 p.m. (CT). The opponent is Bacone College from Muskogee, Oklahoma and the Red River Athletic Conference.
The game will be shown live on the KCAC Broadcast Network and at Macbulldogs.com. The contest will also be broadcasted live in the McPherson area on 96.7 FM KBBE Mid-Kansas Radio and at Macbulldogs.com with Nick Gosnell on the call with former McPherson basketball coach Roger Trimmell doing the color commentary. Steve Sell will join the broadcast with halftime and postgame insight and analysis.
MC fans can expect to see some new faces this season as the graduation of three All-KCAC seniors forced head coach Tim Swartzendruber and his staff to go and recruit some impact players. In their season opener against Haskell Indian Nations University on Oct. 30, McPherson used five new players. Two of those athletes started, Darius Hill and Kyle Lakin, while two of the other three saw significant minutes.
In the game against HINU, McPherson saw themselves up big at 22-4 nine minutes into the game. The Bulldogs carried that lead into halftime, going into the locker room ahead 31-18. It was obvious that it was the first half of the season as MC was only able to shoot 36% from the field. Fortunately for McPherson, the Indians also struggled and were 0-of-7 from behind the arc which kept them out of the game.
The cold streak for Haskell did not extend into the second half as they came out draining their shots, scoring the first nine points of the period. MC’s offense also improved which allowed them to keep a single-digit lead for the majority of the game. While the Indians were hoisting up shots to overtake McPherson late in the game, the Bulldogs were able to extend their lead to double figures. MC improved their shooting percentage to 48% in the second half.
Three McPherson players scored 10 points on Tuesday; Sampson Shivers, Devirous Johnson and Jake Reinhardt. Reinhardt added 13 rebounds for the season’s first double-double. Kasey Miller drained three of his eight three pointers for nine points while newcomers Hill and Dante Lee added eight of their own.
Bulldog basketball will go on the road after their contest against Bacone as they travel to Manhattan, Kan., for a 7:00 p.m. (CT) matchup with the Manhattan Christian College Crusaders on November 7th.
Scouting Bacone College
The Warriors are coached by Alan Foster who is in his 14th season at BC. The game against McPherson will be their first of the 2012-13 season.
Last year, Bacone went 3-26 and finished 12th of 13 schools in the RRAC. They didn’t rank in the top half of the conference in any positive category. BC gave up an average of 83.3 points per game and was only able to score 67.55, giving them a scoring margin of -15.76 which was 12th in the conference. The team even struggled from the free throw line, barely shooting 60 percent.
Opponents of the Warriors were shooting 45% from the field and 35 from three-point land. Bacone turned the ball over just under 17 times a contest and were only able to steal back six a game.
Bacone is returning five players from last season’s 3-26 squad. Forward Charles Gordon brings back his 188 points and 98 rebounds, leading the list of returners. Also coming back are guards Alfred Davis and Irving Levine. Quinten Rose and Nathan Roach join Gordon in the back court.
BC will take on Rhema Bible College for their first home game of the season after playing McPherson.
