Men's Basketball | 12/7/2012 11:17:00 AM
McPherson, Kan. – Coming off their fourth-straight loss, third to KCAC opponents, the Bulldogs need to get on track if they plan on competing for a consecutive conference championship. MC will attempt to get going against the Moundbuilders of Southwestern College on December 8th; game time is set for 7:00 p.m. (CT) in Winfield, Kan.
The game 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. 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
In the mostly one-sided competition against the Ottawa Braves this past Thursday, Ottawa University was the first team on the board and kept their advantage for the complete game. MC hung in the game, keeping it close for the first several minutes but OU pushed their lead into double-digits for the middle section of the period. The Bulldogs pulled their deficit to seven points, heading into halftime down 32-25.
Darius Hill brought the game to the closest it had been since the opening minutes with a bucket on MC’s first possession of the second half, putting the score at 32-27. Unfortunately for McPherson, the Braves jumped back up to their double figure lead where they would stay for most of the period. The Bulldogs made a few runs, bringing the game to single digits but OU always had an answer. A 10-2 MC run closed out the game, bringing the score to 65-59 in favor of the home team.
The Bulldogs ended the game with a 41.8 field goal percentage, making 23-of-55 from the floor including 7-of-22 from deep. Ottawa attempted nine more attempts, finishing the contest 26-of-64. Neither team racked up a substantial amount of rebounds as MC had 30 to lead the game.
Hill was 6-of-8 in the contest for a team-high 13 points; he converted on just 1-of-4 from the stripe. Joey Powers came in off the bench and put in a solid 19 minutes, scoring 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Mason Hewitt and Devirous Johnson each pulled in six rebounds to lead the Bulldogs; Hewitt had nine points while Johnsons totaled four. Sampson Shivers, who is second in the KCAC is points per game, had another tough night, making just 2-of-11 from the field, both three pointers, and 1-of-2 from the stripe.
McPherson will travel to Kansas City, Missouri for an exhibition game against Rockhurst University on December 15th at 3:00 p.m. (CT). The Bulldog’s 2012 year will finish with two games at the Chuck Daly tournament in Florida; games are scheduled for December 29th and 30th.
Scouting Southwestern
The Moundbuilders are 9-4 this season but just 1-2 against conference foes; seven of SWC’s non-conference wins were against National Christian College Athletic Association opponents. They are coming off a 83-74 loss to Sterling College this past Thursday.
Against the Warriors, Southwestern put up 74 shots from the field but were only able to hit 24 of them for a 32.4 field goal percentage; the Builders also made 21-of-31 from the charity stripe. SC went 27-of-69 from the floor in their win; they were 26-of-36 from the free throw line. SWC led the game in both rebounds, 52 with 18 on the offensive side of the court, and turnovers 15.
Caydrick Bloomquist came in off the bench and nearly doubled his season average with a team-high 21 points on 7-of-14 from the field and 5-of-6 from the stripe. No other Southwestern player made it into double figures for scoring but Tyler Shirley and Cameron Clark each pulled down 10+ rebounds in the team’s loss.
The Builders average nearly 80 points scored per contest, highest in the KCAC, but allow over 75, providing some high-scoring games without a lot of defense. A 41.8 shooting percentage is averaged by Southwestern from the field and 34.3% from deep; an average of eight threes are bucketed by the squad per outing. SWC is getting national recognition for their rebounding this season, specifically off the offensive glass. They sit third in the NAIA D-II in offensive rebounds per game with 15.5 and fourth in total offensive rebounds at 567. Their total rebounds per game, 43.6, puts them eighth in the country. The Builders also sit eighth in total points scored, 1034, and total three balls made, 104.
Five players for Southwestern are averaging double figures. Michael Morales leads the crew with 13.46 and is followed by Bloomquist at 12.42. Clark, Taylor Johnson and William Tisdale are putting up 12.15, 11.77 and 10.69 points per contest, respectively; Clark also averages nine rebounds a game, second highest in the conference, and has two double-doubles this season. Johnson is making 2.92 three pointers per contest and has hit a KCAC leading 38 shots from downtown this year.
A trip to Oklahoma to play Southwestern Christian University is next on the docket for SWC; they travel there on December 31st for their final game of 2012.
