Men's Basketball | 12/8/2012 10:35:00 PM
Box Score
Winfield, Kan. – A game where the officials never seemed in control between two teams struggling to find their identity occurred in Stewart Field House on Saturday as Southwestern College took down McPherson 71-61. MC is now 0-4 in the KCAC and 5-8 overall.
The Bulldogs, in an attempt to find something that works, started the night with a different lineup than usual which contributed to the slow start of the game; it took 2:24 before the first points were put on the board by either team. Over three minutes had passed before McPherson made a bucket and they were stuck at five points for three and a half minutes; fortunately for Mac, SWC was having a rough time scoring as well. The 20-point mark wasn’t surpassed by either team until the second half of the opening period. 10 points was the largest lead of the period for the Builders who led from the start of the game. The halftime buzzer sounded with the score at 34-30.
An 8-of-11 first 20 minutes from behind the arc was recorded by Southwestern who live and die on their ability to hit the three-ball; they made just 2-of-14 from the rest of the floor. MC put up nearly ten more shot attempts than SWC but only made 12 for a 35.3 field goal percentage. The Builders went 6-of-6 from the charity stripe while Mac was 2-of-3.
McPherson got off to a bad start in the second half as they got down by 10+ within the first few minutes. The Bulldogs got back under control and had a mini-run to get their deficit to six points just a couple minutes later. The game’s first tie came with 6:49 showing on the clock after a Mason Hewitt bucket evened the score at 57. Quick turnovers and too many second chance opportunities by MC gave the Builders the late game momentum which SWC rode to a 10-point victory, winning 71-61.
44 shot attempts were heaved at the basket by McPherson in the second period and just 29.5% of them fell through the hoop; they also only converted on 1-of-8 from behind the three-point line. The Builders took much fewer attempts from the floor, going 10-of-28; they were 4-of-12 from distance and 13-of-18 from the stripe.
A poor 4-of-9 shooting from the free throw line brought MC’s percentage to 50 for the game. They went 25-of-78 from the floor including 5-of-21 from downtown. SWC was 12-of-23 from the three point line and 8-of-30 from everywhere else for their 37.7 field goal percentage. 24 free throw attempts were put up by SWC, they made 19. Mac won the turnover battle, only turning the ball over 11 times to Southwestern’s 16. The Bulldogs also did a solid job on the glass, specifically on the offensive side, pulling in 46 total and 21 offensive rebounds.
Mason Hewitt (Norwich, Kan.), getting the start, led the team with 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting and 2-of-3 from the free throw line; he also recorded eight rebounds.
Devirous Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) came in off the bench and hit 5-of-9 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the stripe for hit 12 points.
Adam Bruner (McPherson, Kan.) led the team in assists with six.
Samson Shivers (Houston, Texas) hit just 2-of-8 from the floor, both of which were three pointers.
Two Builders scored 17 points in their win; Michael Morales hit 6-of-12 while Taylor Johnson converted on 4-of-7 from the field and 5-of-5 from the stripe. Larry Vasquez was the other Southwestern player to make it over the 10-point hump. Cameron Clark was a rebound monster, pulling down 17 rebounds, 16 of which were on the defensive side of the court.
MC will make the trip to Kansas City, Missouri on December 15
th for a 3:00 p.m. (CT) exhibition game against NCAA Division II Rockhurst University.
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