Men's Basketball | 12/5/2012 9:50:00 AM
McPherson, Kan. – A hard fought 64-61 loss to the Blue Jays of Tabor College left the Bulldogs with a bad taste inside their mouths as they had multiple opportunities to take the lead in the final seconds. MC will look to take out their frustration against a 3-6 Ottawa squad on December 6th in Ottawa, Kansas; the game is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. (CT)
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. You can also watch the game via ihigh.com/macbulldogs. All links to live game statistics, audio or video can be found at Macbulldogs.com
Both McPherson and Tabor showed off their defensive skills in the first 10 minutes of the competition on Saturday. The Bulldogs held TC to zero field goals in the first 11 minutes but were only able to score nine points of their own, keeping the game easily within the Blue Jays’ reach. The lead was traded six times with three ties throughout the final minutes of the half. MC was ahead 26-21 heading into the locker room.
Period number two was a thriller and it started with McPherson grabbing the game’s largest lead of seven points at 28-21. A 10-0 run by Tabor quickly demolished MC’s advantage; the Blue Jays kept the lead until there were five minutes remaining in the game. The two squads traded possessions and leads in the last few minutes; the Bulldogs got up after a three pointer by Sampson Shivers and steal and fast break layup by Adam Bruner put the score at 61-60. Two free throws made by Tabor put TC back in front with just 25 ticks left on the clock. McPherson’s Brian Johnson drove the lane and was awarded with two shots from the charity stripe but would miss both, forcing MC to foul upon the rebound. The Blue Jays would miss their bonus opportunity, giving the Bulldogs another chance which they fumbled away, throwing the ball into the hands of Tabor. TC hit 2-of-2 on their next trip to the stripe, extending the lead to three with just three seconds remaining. A long pass was collected by MC at half court but an errant pass turned the ball over, ending all hope for McPherson and giving Tabor the 64-61 victory.
Shivers ended the game with 19 points on 4-of-13 from the field; he also put up 13 free throw attempts, draining nine. Devirous Johnson went 5-of-10 from the floor for 10 points. Dante didn’t score in the game but recorded five assists.
McPherson is currently ranked 20th in the NAIA D-II in offensive rebounds per contest with 13.4 and sit 30th in three-point field goals made with 77. Shivers has drained 32 of those shots from downtown, putting him 12th in D-II; he ranks 24th in three balls made a game with 2.91.
The Bulldogs will travel down to Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas for their final KCAC matchup of 2012. The game will tipoff at 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Scouting Ottawa
The 3-6 Braves had a rough start to their season, going 1-5 in their first six games but have since won twice against Haskell Indian Nations and Kansas Wesleyan. Their latest game was against the Sterling Warriors; Ottawa went down swinging, losing 76-79 in overtime.
OU shot the ball better than Sterling in every category; they were 26-of-65 from the floor and 7-of-21 from beyond the arc and even led the game in free throw percentage although they only hit 65.4% (17-of-26). Where Ottawa lost the game was the foul line, as they gave up 37 trips to the stripe to the Warriors; SC was able to knock in 24 of their tries, making seven more free throws than OU. Sterling also committed fewer turnovers, coughing the ball up just 10 times to the Braves’ 16.
Ottawa’s Julian Rose hit on 6-of-12 from the field and 3-of-4 from the line for a team leading 20 points; he also pulled in nine rebounds. Forward Corey Smith played a game-high 40 minutes in the 45 minute contest; he had 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Chase Dippel and Stephen Feighny each totaled double-digit points, scoring 12 and 10, respectively; Feighny also grabbed 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
The Braves are scoring over 76 points per contest, third highest in the KCAC, while shooting 43.5% from the field and 39.7 from downtown which is the highest in the conference and 13th in the NAIA D-II; they make an average of 8.33 three-point shots each time on the court. 13 assists and 16.7 turnovers are recorded by Ottawa per game. Their 11 total blocks for the season is last in the conference; they average 1.22 per contest.
16.89 points a game are recorded by Dippel, leading the team and putting him third in the KCAC; he is making 45.6 percent of his shots. Rose is hauling in 6.67 boards each time out and also averages 11.3 points. Zach Brown has 22 assists and 13 steals this season, tops of the team.
The Braves will play another home contest on December 8th, it will be against Bethany College.
