Men's Basketball | 2/9/2012 11:49:00 PM
Box Score 1 Box Score
McPherson, Kan. - It was a tale of two halves as the No. 6 Bulldogs first half defensive performance was enough to outlast Friends second half offensive surge Thursday night, 58-50.
The win brings the Bulldogs overall record to 24-3 and 13-2 in KCAC play, while the Falcons fall to 12-15 overall and 7-8 in conference. McPherson stays in first place in KCAC rankings, one game ahead of No. 22 Saint Mary who boasts a 20-4 record and 12-3 in conference.
Aaron Frazier (McPherson, Kan.) and
Chris Crawford (McPherson, Kan.) led McPherson with 13 points a piece, while
Samson Shivers (Houston, Texas) added ten. Frazier also had four assists and came up big defensively racking up five of McPherson's six blocks for the game. The Bulldogs would also out-rebound the Falcons 43-to 32.
The First half was all McPherson as the Bulldogs opened the game with a 9-to-2 run in the first four minutes after a Crawford three pointer made it a seven point lead. The next ten minutes of the half, McPherson would go on a 16-to-4 run stretching the lead to 19 at 25-6. The Bulldogs would finish the last six minutes of the half on a 13-to-5 run allowing Friends to barely break double digits going into halftime, 38-11. The Bulldogs shot 46.4 percent from the field 6-of-12 from three, while holding The Falcons to a mere 8.3 percent from the field.
The Falcons showed up right of break with an 8-to-0 run in the first two minutes cutting the Bulldogs' lead to 19 (38-19). McPherson would get the lead back up to 23 (46-23) with twelve minutes remaining, but Friends refused to stop playing. The Falcons would hit a surge of accuracy going on a 27-to-8 run cutting the Bulldogs' lead to four (54-50) with only a minute remaining. However, Shivers would hit four free throws to push the game out of reach and the Bulldogs would claim victory, 58-50.
Coltan Rausch led the Falcons with 18 points while Brett Steven added twelve. The biggest problem for Friends was the slow start shooting only 2-of-24 from the field in the first half.
McPherson next travels to Salina to face the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes with tip-off set for 7:00 pm Saturday. The Coyotes come off a big win against No. 23 Southwestern, bringing the Coyote's overall record to 3-23 and 1-14 in KCAC play.
