Men's Basketball | 12/30/2012 8:47:00 PM
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
McPherson, Kan. – The men’s basketball team of McPherson College traveled to West Palm Beach, Fla., over Christmas break to play in the Chuck Daly Classic. On Saturday, December 29th, MC took down NCAA Division-III Emmanuel College 76-47 and then was overpowered by No. 5 Northwood University 101-57 in the Championship game on Sunday.
In the competition against the Saints of EC, Mac got out to an early lead but Emmanuel came right back and kept the game within a handful of points. The lead would trade back-and-forth for the first 10 minutes with McPherson leading by as many as three points while the Saints were able to get out in front by 10 with just under nine minutes left in the first period. A 15-3 by the Bulldogs put them in front by two points, 29-27, as the halftime buzzer sounded.
Both teams shot the ball well in the game’s first 20 minutes as MC went 13-of-28 from the field and Emmanuel converted 44% of their attempts; each squad hit three shots from distance but the Bulldogs put up six more balls than EC, putting their percentage at 27.3 for the first half. Few free throws were shot in the opening period; the Saints were 2-of-4 while MC missed both of their attempts.
The Bulldogs came out in the second half set to take control of the game and did so with a 21-1 run in the period’s first 10 minutes, putting MC up 52-28. After that, a solid job defensively by McPherson, boxing out and limiting second chance opportunities kept EC at bay. The Saints got their deficit under 20 points on a couple of occasions but never really gave Mac any trouble.
Just 20 points were allowed by the stout Bulldog defense in the second period, forcing a 9-of-23 showing by Emmanuel. MC improved their already above average first half shooting with a 21-of-37 (56.8%) performance in the game’s final period; however, they continued to struggle from downtown and from the charity stripe, going 2-of-7 and 3-of-7, respectively. EC once again went 50% from the free throw line, making 1-of-2.
An impressive 52.3 field goal percentage was posted by McPherson in the 76-47 win; they went 5-of-18 from behind the arc and 3-of-9 from the stripe. The Saints shot a respectable 41.7% from the floor and were 3-fo-6 from the free throw line. MC turned the ball over 21 times but was able to steal 12 back from Emmanuel, forcing 21 total EC turnovers. The rebounding battle was heavily won by the ‘Dogs as they hulled in 46 of the game’s 77 rebounds.
Mason Hewitt (Norwich, Kan.) has taken well to his starting role, averaging 18 points in his two starts this season; he was near perfect against Emmanuel, converting 10-of-11 from the field for a career-high 20 points.
Darius Hill (Kansas City, Kan.) went 6-of-11 from the floor and 1-of-2 from the stripe for his 13 points and also had a team-high eight rebounds.
Samson Shivers (Houston, Texas) was next on the scoring list with 13 point, going just 4-of-15 from the field; he was able to make 100% of his free throw attempts, draining 2-of-2.
Adam Bruner (McPherson, Kan.) came in from the bench and made 50% of his field goals for 10 points.
Xavier Everson was the lone Saint to make it into double-digits, scoring 16 points on 8-fo-16 shooting. Josh Welles and Theo Robinson nearly hit the 10-point mark, scoring nine and eight points, respectively; Robinson led the team in rebounds with six.
With their victory over Emmanuel, the Bulldogs earned a rematch with Northwood University who was the team that knocked them out of the NAIA D-II National Championship Tournament in the semi-finals a year ago. The Seahawks, once again showcasing their tremendous talent, took it to McPherson, trouncing the Bulldogs 101-57.
The game started with two made free throws by NU; a Shivers three pointer on the next possession gave McPherson the lead which, thanks to some defensive stops by MC, they were able to maintain until a 17-2 run by Northwood brought the score to 26-13 which was the closest it would get for the remainder of the game. Once the Seahawks started hitting their shots, it was hard for the Bulldogs to stop them; MC went into halftime trailing 58-33 after 20 minutes of sharp shooting by NU.
In the second period, MC traded punches for the first part of the half which kept the score within 30 points but another huge run by the Seahawks pushed their lead to over 40 points where it stayed for the rest of the game. NU made it over the century mark with just under two minutes left on the clock and coasted to a 101-57 victory.
MC closed out the contest hitting just 31.5 percent of their attempts from the field; they converted on 7-of-22 from distance and shot a noteworthy 75% from the charity stripe. Northwood ended the game 36-of-62 from the floor and an outstanding 14-of-28 from behind the three point line as they couldn’t seem to miss on their home court; 15-of-17 free throws were made by the Seahawks in the win.
Shivers led Mac in scoring, as he went 6-of-14 from the field and 5-of-6 from the stripe; he was also named to the all-tournament team. No other Bulldog player made it over 10 points in the loss with
Devirous Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) coming the closest with seven; he was the top rebounder for MC, grabbing seven boards.
Rashad James went about lights out in the Northwood victory, putting up 30 points on 9-of-13 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the free throw line; along with Dan O’Keefe, he also led the team in rebounds, grabbing six. Patrick Horstmann racked up 13 points on 50% shooting from the field. He was followed by Mike Newton who scored 11 on 4-of-8 shooting.
The ‘Dogs will start conference play up again on the 3
rd of January when they host the University of Saint Mary; tipoff of that contest will be 8:00 p.m. (CT)
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