Men's Basketball | 11/6/2012 10:23:00 AM
McPherson, Kan. – The men’s basketball program will travel to Manhattan, Kansas to take on the Manhattan Christian Crusaders in a 7:00 p.m. (CT) showdown on November 7th. MC is 2-0 this season and will be attempting to extend their undefeated streak to three games.
The contest will be broadcasted live in the McPherson area on 96.7 FM KBBE Mid-Kansas Radio and on the world wide web at Macbulldogs.com with Nick Gosnell on the call with Steve Sell providing the color commentary for the broadcast.
MC’s latest win came against Bacone College of Oklahoma. The game was a fast past, exciting competition of two schools still trying to figure out where their new players fit with the past years’ players. Each team used at least five new athletes in their rotation during the contest.
The Bulldogs had a slow start which gave Bacone the ability to control the pace of the game. BC led by as many as 13 points and shot 45% from the field in the opening half. McPherson only hit nine field goals in the first period; fortunately four of those were three balls which allowed them to be down only seven heading into the locker room.
In the second half, the Warriors kept MC at bay for the first few minutes but the Bulldog offense punched through the Bacone defense and took their first lead of the period at the 12:44 mark. Points and leads were traded back and forth for the next section of the game; neither team was able to take control with the largest lead being four points. McPherson finally broke free and took the lead for good with just under four minutes left to go at 60-59. BC kept the game close but by going 6-of-6 from the charity stripe in the final minute, the Bulldogs held on, winning 71-64.
Sampson Shivers got hot in the second half for McPherson and ended the night with a career high 29 points on 7-of-14 from the field, 6-of-13 from three-point land and a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line. Devirous Johnson made it into double figures for the second-straight game, coming off the bench and making five of his nine field goals; he also hit 4-of-5 free throws. Senior Jake Reinhardt was just three points shy of his second double-double of the year, ending the game with seven points and 12 rebounds.
Once their game with Crusaders is completed, McPherson will gear up for another Friday night home competition; they will play the Morningside College Mustangs on November 9th at 7:00 p.m. (CT) in the McPherson Sport Center.
Scouting Manhattan Christian
The MCC Crusaders are a member of the Midwest Christian College Conference and are two-time defending champions of the MCCC. Last season they went 22-11 overall and were 12-0 in conference. The squad returns seven from the 2011-12 team and have brought in nine players including five freshmen.
This season, the Crusaders are 1-2 with their losses coming against KCAC opponents. In their first game of the year, MCC took on the Moundbuilders of Southwestern and lost in overtime 91-82. They then took on Union College a couple days later and won by 15 points at 85-70. Manhattan Christian followed that up with a game was against Kansas Wesleyan University on this past Saturday. It was a very tight contest with KWU coming out the victor 91-85. The Crusaders play Central Christian College on Tuesday evening.
It was hard for MCC to beat Kansas Wesleyan when their defense allowed the Coyotes to shoot over 50% from the field and 47 percent from distance. The Crusaders also shot the ball well, 43.1 percent from the field and 10-of-21 from beyond the arc, keeping them in the game.
Three Manhattan Christian players made it into double digits with junior Jack Mitchell leading the way with 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting including 3-of-3 from deep. Lonnie Penner put up 18 with a good chunk of his points coming on the free throw line where he made 8-of-9. Sage Ruis went 5-of-8 from the three-point line and also hit one free throw for his 16 points.
An exhibition game against Oklahoma Baptist University awaits the Crusaders after their contest against McPherson.
