Men's Basketball | 2/3/2012 7:53:00 PM
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McPherson, Kan. - McPherson College men’s basketball team attempts to avenge an earlier season loss against Southwestern, as the Bulldogs welcome the Moundbuilders to the McPherson Sport Center on Saturday night. Tipoff for the contest is scheduled for 7 p.m. (CT)
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.
McPherson enters the matchup coming off of a tough loss to KCAC opponent Saint Mary, as the Bulldogs couldn’t find their shot and fell 50-73. The loss drops McPherson’s overall record to 22-3 and 11-2 in KCAC play while the Spires improve to 18-4 overall and 9-4 in conference. McPherson holds their number one spot in the KCAC, but the loss puts Saint Mary just a game behind and this weekend’s opponent, Southwestern, who trails by only two games.
Poor shooting proved to be the Bulldogs weakness versus the Spires, finishing the contest shooting just 26.6 percent from the field.
Chris Crawford led the Bulldogs with 22 points on 7-of-11 from the field, while
Adam Bruner added another ten off the bench.
Jordan Crawford brought down 13 rebounds to lead all players in the contest.
McPherson’s defense gave up only six more points than their season and KCAC leading average which sits at 67.6 points per game. This is just the fourth time that a conference team was able to put up 70 or more points against the Bulldogs.
Southwestern comes into the contest with a two-game losing streak, their most recent loss at the hands of Friends University, 59-79. The Builders were down 15 at half, thanks to a terrific shooting performance by Friends who shot over 50 percent in the opening period. SWC couldn’t dig themselves out of that hole in the second.
The Bulldogs will return to competition next Thursday, Feb. 9
th, at home against Friends University. That game is set to tipoff at 8 p.m. (CT) in the McPherson Sport Center.
Scouting Southwestern
Despite their latest loss against Friends University, SWC still sits firmly at third in the KCAC with at 69 percent win-loss percentage. This puts their record at 9-4 in the conference and 19-5 overall. In their losing effort against Friends, Southwestern’s Ethan Randolph’s 25 points were overshadowed by the poor overall shooting performance by the rest of the squad. Chris Nelson was the exception as he had 16 on 7-of-13 shooting.
The Builders are led this season in scoring by Randolph who is averaging 17.65 points per game, ranking him second in the KCAC,only bested by Aaron Frazier of MC. Southwestern also has three other players averaging a double-double; Koury Clayton (14), Nelson (11.67) and James Davis (10.75). Randolph and Clayton are both shooting over 50 percent for the year. Randolph also leads the team in rebounds at 6.74 a game and has 155 for the season.
The Builders are in the top two in both offense and defense in the categories of scoring and field goal percentage. On offense, SWC is averaging 80.54 points per game while shooting an incredible 49 percent from the field. Southwestern is allowing only 70.2 points per game and are holding their opponents to a 40.6 field goal percentage. McPherson is the only school ahead of them in both of those defensive categories.
After the McPherson game, SWC stays on the road and travels to Salina to face Kansas Wesleyan next Thursday in a contest against the Coyotes.
