Men's Basketball | 2/1/2012 4:09:00 PM
Game 26: No. 4 McPherson College (22-2, 11-1) vs. University of Saint Mary (17-4, 9-3)
Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012 | 8 p.m. (CT) | Ryan Sports Center | Leavenworth, Kan.
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McPherson, Kan. - McPherson attempts to continue their climb up the national rankings on Thursday against the University of Saint Mary. The newly ranked No. 4 McPherson men’s basketball team will be traveling up to Leavenworth Kansas for a battle against the Spires. This should be one of the toughest battles of the season for either team. The last time these two teams played each other, it came down to the wire ending in an 87-86 McPherson victory. The re-match is scheduled for 8 PM (CT) at the Ryan Sport Center in Leavenworth.
The game will be shown live on the KCAC Broadcast Network and at Macbulldogs.com. The midweek contest will also be broadcasting live in the McPherson area on 96.7 FM KBBE MidKansas Radio with Nick Gosnell making the call.
The Bulldogs come into the game riding a seven game win streak with their last loss coming on January 5
th to Southwestern College, who will be traveling to McPherson this Saturday. MC is atop the conference standings with an 11-1 record in the KCAC and 22-2 overall. There are only six games left in the regular season and while each one is important, the next two could have to most impact. Sitting just a couple steps below MC are Saint Mary and Southwestern and these two teams just happen to be the next two opponents of the Bulldogs. With their final four games against four of the bottom five KCAC schools, these next two will give McPherson some breathing room for the remainder of the season.
McPherson’s most recent victory came in a thrilling game against Sterling College this past Saturday. The two teams were evenly matched and it was such an exciting game that they decided to go into overtime where the Bulldogs pulled out the victory 95-89. Sterling’s score was the highest point total for any conference team playing MC this season.
The Bulldogs currently lead the conference and rank 2nd in the NAIA Division II in defensive field goal percentage at 38.5. McPherson's 67.3 points per game defensive average is the KCAC best. The team is led in rebounds by senior guard Jordan Crawford who is averaging nine per game. Crawford also leads the KCAC in this category. Senior guard Aaron Frazier is on top of the conference in steals this season, averaging just over two per game with 48 for the year.
The Spires are coming off a tough battle against Southwestern where they won 66-62 despite only shooting 34.4 percent from the floor. USM has gone 9-1 since they last faced McPherson, winning six straight before stumbling at Sterling two weeks ago.
Two days after McPherson competes against Saint Mary, they will face the KCAC’s 2
nd ranked team Southwestern College. That game is scheduled for Saturday, February 4
th at 7 PM (CT) at the Sport Center in McPherson.
Scouting Saint Mary
The University of Saint Mary is currently 3
rd in the KCAC with a record of 9-3, they are 17-4 overall. McPherson holds a two game lead on both them and Southwestern in the conference standings. The Spires are in the top half of the conference in nearly every category, both offense and defense; they pose a tough matchup for McPherson Bulldogs. They are ranked 3
rd in scoring defense, allowing just over 70 points a game and are 2
nd in scoring offense putting up 81.5 points per game. USM also holds the highest three-point percentage at 37.4 percent and steals per game at 8.62.
Their offense is a team driven offense. They have three players averaging double figures, guards Kevin Harvey, Jordan Wilcox and Jeb Greenberg. Each one of these players can have a career day each game which makes USM a difficult team to guard. Wilcox also leads the KCAC in free throw percentage with 86%. Senior guard Brandon Dougherty contributes to the team in a different way, averaging 3.67 assists and 1.86 steals per game, both ranking 2
nd in the conference.
Saint Mary’s win against Southwestern College last week had a lot to do with careful ball control. USM had only 7 turnovers themselves while forcing SC to have 15. Even though they had the better field goal percentage, Southwestern could not overcome the turnover ratio. Saint Mary was led by Wilcox (16) followed closely by Harvey (14). Greenberg added 10 rebounds to his 8 point total.
After their home contest against McPherson, the Spires will be traveling to Salina to take on last place Kansas Wesleyan. That game will be at 7 PM (CT) on Saturday February 4
th.
In their last meeting...
Samson Shivers (Houston, Texas) finished the night with 18 points, but none more important than his jumper at the buzzer, as the No. 7 McPherson College men’s basketball team knocked off No. 25 University of Saint Mary, 87-86, Saturday evening in Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference play.
With the win, McPherson enters the holiday break with a 14-1 overall record and 4-0 mark in conference play, while the Spires fall to 9-3 overall and 2-2 in the league.
Kenny Berry, Jr. (Lee's Summit, Mo.) converted one of two free throw attempts to give the Bulldogs an 85-84 lead with 0:29 remaining. Saint Mary, however, following a timeout took its first lead of the contest, 85-86, on a Jordan Wilcox runner. After a quick inbounds pass to Berry, who dribbled in and around the entire Spire defense before finding Shivers in the corner. Shivers took one quick dribble then heaved the game winner as time expired.
In addition to Shivers,
Aaron Frazier (McPherson, Kan.) had 17 points, while Berry added 16 points and
Jordan Crawford (McPherson, Kan.) chipped in 11 points, respectively. Crawford also added a team-high eight rebounds.
As a team, McPherson ended the contest shooting 45.3 percent (29-of-64) from the field and 66.7 percent (26-for-39) from the foul line. Defensively, the Bulldogs forced 16 Spire turnovers, but were outrebounded in the contest 44-38.
In the first half, the Bulldogs controlled the tempo from the start, jumping out to an 18-9 following a
Kasey Miller (Derby, Kan.) 3-pointer. McPherson grew its lead out to as many as 31-15 before the Spires, aided by a more than two-minute stretch without an MC field goal, to cut the lead to 51-40 at the break.
McPherson shot an impressive 20-of-37 from the field, but struggled from beyond the arc (2-for-7) and at the foul line (9-of-16).
Unlike the first half, MC struggled offensively for a majority of the second period. The Spires capped a 17-8 run with a pair of Kevin Harvey free throws to tie the score 78-78 with 4:11 left in regulation. The two sides traded field goals the remainder of the half before Shivers converted the game winning field goal. The Bulldogs only converted three field goals over the final 12 minutes of regulation.
Brandon Dougherty and JEB Greenberg paced the Spires with 19 points each, while Marc McGrory chipped in 15 points. As a team, USM finished the game shooting 47.0 percent (31-of-66) from the field.
