Men's Basketball | 2/24/2012 11:56:00 AM
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McPherson, Kan. – With one KCAC tournament game in the books, the Bulldogs now look ahead to their second round matchup against the Tabor College Blue Jays. The game is scheduled to tipoff at 7 p.m. (CT) in the McPherson Sport Center on Saturday, Feb. 25.
The game will be shown live on the KCAC Broadcast Network and at Macbulldogs.com. The contest will also be broadcasted live in the McPherson area on 96.7 FM KBBE MidKansas Radio and at Macbulldogs.com with Nick Gosnell and former Bulldog head coach Roger Trimmell on the call.
After taking down Bethany twice in one week, winning on Thursday 76-68, McPherson (28-3 overall) moves on in the KCAC tournament and now faces Tabor College (14-15 overall) who defeated Southwestern, 62-54, in the first round. A complete bracket can be seen here.
After a slow start, not reaching double figures until the 11 minute mark in the opening period, McPherson came on strong to close the first half down 32-36. After halftime, the Bulldogs took their first lead of the night at the 12:42 mark, 50-48 on a D’onte Woods layup. MC led for the remainder of the game but were never able to increase the lead to more than a few points with their largest advantage (8) coming with under 30 seconds remaining. Hitting 10-of-12 free-throws down the stretch allowed McPherson to come out victorious.
Both Aaron Frazier and Samson Shivers had 17 points in the contest with Shivers making all of his field goals in the first half and Frazier getting most of his points in the second. Chris Crawford had 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting to be the third Bulldog in double figures.
For the first time all season, McPherson was only able to convert one three-point attempt, going 1-of-16 from behind the arc. They fortunately were able to hit from the other parts of the floor going 25-of-59 from the field for a 42.4 percentage which is right at their season average. Free-throws were the big story for the Bulldogs on Thursday (25-of-29) missing only two in each period and hitting 22-of-24 in the second half.
Once again, MC will have to win to continue to play in the KCAC tournament. If they are successful in beating Tabor, then they will move on to the championship game which is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 27 at Hartman Arena in Park City, Kan. at 8 p.m. (CT). If the Bulldogs fall to TC then they will have to wait for the NAIA National Tournament (Mar. 7-13) before they play again.
Scouting Tabor
The Blue Jays of Tabor College defeated Southwestern College Thursday night by eight points, moving them along in the tournament. TC had been in a two game slump before their matchup against the Builders who ended their season losing eight straight. The Blue Jays went 6-3 in the second round of KCAC play after going 4-5 in their first matchup with each team.
Tabor had a great night shooting from beyond the arc against SWC, hitting on 9-of-20 for 45 percent which is nearly 10% higher than their season average. They shot right around their season average of 44 percent from the field on 21-of-50. Much like McPherson, TC had a solid showing from the charity stripe, hitting 11 of their 14 free-throw attempts.
Gavin Serene had an uncharacteristically good night, shooting 62.5 percent from the field for 15 points on 5-of-8. Tabor only had one other athlete in double-digits, Ryan Chippeaux who scored 10 and also had 12 rebounds for his eleventh double-double of the year.
Three-point shots are something that the Blue Jays like to do and do very well. They are ranked 14th in the NAIA Division II in makes from long range and 16th in threes made per game. Within the KCAC, Tabor is ranked in the middle of most categories with the exception of total assists (432) and three-pointers (247) where they sit at second. Their 72.8 free-throw percentage is the second highest in the conference as well.
Kyle Wallace is the leading assist man for TC and averages over five assists per game, leading the conference and ranking 10th in the NAIA. The KCAC’s sixth ranked three-point shooter is Lawson Kingsley who averages 2.39 makes per game while shooting 44.1 percent from behind the arc. Chippeaux is second in total rebounds (231) and rebounds per game (7.7) sitting behind McPherson’s Jordan Crawford in both categories; Chippeaux also has the most double-double games (10) in the KCAC.
Tabor’s next game is also determined by how they fair on Saturday night in McPherson. A win will advance them to the finals of the KCAC tournament on Monday, Feb. 27 at Hartman Arena in Park City, Kan. A loss, however, will end their 2011-2012 season.
