Men's Basketball | 12/31/2012 11:43:00 AM
Game Notes
Live Audio
Live Video
Live Stats
McPherson, Kan. – Following their 2-1 non-conference December schedule, including the exhibition game against Rockhurst University, the Bulldog basketball team is now set for 14-straight KCAC contests. The first of those competitions will come on January 3rd when the University of Saint Mary comes to town for an 8:00 p.m. (CT) tipoff in the Sport Center.
The contest will 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. 1410 AM KGSO of Wichita will also be covering the contest on Thursday.
You can watch the game via ihigh.com/macbulldogs. All links to live game statistics, audio or video can be found at Macbulldogs.com
The 6-9 Bulldogs will head into Thursday’s game with a slight tan after spending six days in the Florida un while competing in the Chuck Daly Classic on the 29th and 30th of December. In their first game, MC took on Emmanuel College and after a close first half, McPherson took control in the second, winning the game 76-47. The game’s opening minutes went back and forth with neither team maintaining any sort of control. Mac took a 29-27 lead into the locker room after a 15-3 run propelled them past EC.
In the second half, MC started things off with a 21-1 run spanning over 10 minutes which gave them a 52-28 lead. A strong defensive showing by McPherson kept the Saints from gaining any momentum and gave the Bulldogs the 76-47 victory.
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. 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 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 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. Sampson Shivers was next on the scoring list with 13 points and was followed by Adam Bruner who came in from the bench and made 50% of his field goals for 10 points.
Host school and fifth ranked team in the NAIA D-II Northwood University also won their first round game, creating a rematch of the 2012 National tournament semi-final game. MC stayed on top in the first few minutes of the contest thanks to some solid defensive stops but a 17-2 Seahawk run put NU up 26-13. After that, Northwood couldn’t miss and took a 58-33 lead into halftime.
McPherson kept their deficit around the 30-point mark for the opening minutes of the second period but another push by NU put the Seahawks up by over 40 which is where the gap stayed for the remainder of the contest. Northwood 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.
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 Johnsons coming the closest with seven; he was the top rebounder for MC, grabbing seven boards.
Another home contest awaits McPherson after their go-around with the Spires of Saint Mary. MC will take on Friends University on January 5th with game time set for 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Scouting Saint Mary
The USM Spires sit at 9-4 for the season and are a perfect 4-0 against KCAC opponents. Saint Mary has only played one other contest following their final conference game of 2012; they took on the Indians of Haskell Indian Nations, winning 80-70 in the December 15th game. USM will be coming off 18 days rest heading into their matchup with McPherson.
In the game against HINU, the Spires shot an impressive 53.2% from the floor including going 10-of-27 from downtown; only seven free throws were attempted by USM, they hit four for a 57.1 percentage. Haskell also had a nice showing from the field, hitting 46% of their shots and were 21-of-38 for two-point field goals; a poor 2-of-12 performance from deep doomed the Indians. An eye-popping 32 shots from the charity stripe were taken by HINU in the loss; they made 22 of their attempts. Despite losing the rebounding battle and turning the ball over 18 times, USM still came out victorious.
Saint Mary’s Jordan Wilcox heaved the ball at the rim 23 times, making 12; he was 7-of-16 from behind the arc and finished the game with a career-high 31 points. JEB Greenberg was second on the scoring totem pole, putting in six field goals for 12 points; he also grabbed 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the year. Kevin Harvey came in off the bench and recorded eight points and four rebounds.
75.4 points are scored by the Spires each time they hit the court while shooting a KCAC leading 45.5%; they are also making 7.7 three balls per contest and lead the conference in three-point field goal percentage, draining 38.3 percent of their attempts from deep. USM turns the ball over around 16 times an outing but are stealing back 9.4 of those each contest, second in the KCAC.
Wilcox averages 14.86 points per game and hits 42.9% of his attempts from the floor; he also leads the team in three pointers made, free throws made and steals with 43, 33 and 20, respectively. Wilcox ranks 14th in the NAIA D-II in total three balls drained and 16th in shots from distance made per game with 3.071. Harvey is second on the team in scoring this season as he averages 10.5 points each time out; Chip Schneider is third on the list and makes 42.5% of his shots. Greenberg pulls down an average of seven rebounds per contest and has accumulated 98 overall while scoring 8.29 points a game.
Saint Mary will host its first game of 2013 on January 5th when the Bethany Swedes come to town.
