Men's Basketball | 1/11/2013 3:24:00 PM
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McPherson, Kan. – Following their first conference win of the season, the men’s basketball program at McPherson College will be attempting to keep the winning going as they take on the KCAC’s No. 2 team, the Sterling College Warriors. Start time for that competition is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. (CT) on January 12th.
The game will be broadcasted live in the McPherson area on 96.7 FM KBBE Mid-Kansas Radio and at Macbulldogs.com with Nick Gosnell on the call with former McPherson basketball coach Roger Trimmell doing the color commentary. Steve Sell will join the broadcast with halftime and postgame insight and analysis. You can also watch the game via ihigh.com/macbulldogs. All links to live game statistics, audio or video can be found at Macbulldogs.com
In their first KCAC win, MC had a difficult first 10 minutes as they allowed Kansas Wesleyan to get out in front due to numerous turnovers by the Bulldogs; 12 turnovers were accumulated by McPherson in the game’s first 20 minutes. Mac was able to battle back, largely thanks to a few three-point baskets, and pulled within three points at halftime, trailing 27-24 as the buzzer sounded.
The Coyotes stayed out in front for the first part of the half but never by more than nine points. MC took advantage of KWU’s lack of ability to increase their lead and, with a 9-0 run, tied the game with 11:32 showing on the clock. Both teams traded buckets for the next four minutes until McPherson took the lead for good with 7:31 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs extended their advantage to double-digits but Kansas Wesleyan would not go away on their home court, pulling within four points in the final minute of the game. MC made 3-of-4 from the charity stripe which helped them finish off the Coyotes, 73-66.
Thanks to a healthy 56.7 field goal percentage in the second half, the Bulldogs ended the game making 42.4 percent of their attempts; they were 18-of-31 from the field which included making 7-of-28 three pointers. An outstanding 84 percent of McPherson’s free throws went through the hoop as they hit 16-of-19. Kansas Wesleyan made 17-of-44 field goals and 17-of-23 shots from the charity stripe. MC rolled in the rebounding category, grabbing 46 rebounds and held the Coyotes to 37.
Sampson Shivers and Mason Hewitt each tallied a game-high 18 points but did it in very different ways; Shivers made 5-of-6 from three-point range and 3-of-4 free throws while Hewitt went 8-of-14 from the field and 2-of-2 from the stripe. Shivers’ five three pointers give him 50 for the season which place him 14th in the NAIA D-II. Darius Hill had a great game for MC, tallying 16 points on 5-of-6 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the stripe; he also grabbed 15 total rebounds, four on the offensive end.
Once finished with Sterling, McPherson will take on the Threshers of Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas on January 16th at 8:00 p.m. (CT)
Scouting Sterling
The Warriors are in the midst of a six-game winning streak and have been victorious in nine of their last 10 competitions with the only loss being an eight-point defeat to the University Saint Mary on December 8th. The latest win for SC was against Bethel College on Thursday night as they took down the Threshers 86-70.
A 45.5% shooting performance anchored the Warrior’s victory as they hit 30-of-66 from the field which included making 7-of-23 from deep; 19 the team’s 33 free throws were made. Bethel put up 70 field goal attempts but only had 27 drop for a 38.6 shooting percentage; the Threshers’ 10-of-19 from the stripe wasn’t enough to keep them in the game. 50 rebounds were recorded by Sterling as they cleaned up after BC’s misses; Bethel tallied 42 rebounds, 12 offensive in the loss. SC had 17 assists and only 14 turnovers for a positive assist-turnover ratio.
Four Warriors made it to double figures on Thursday with Braden Thompson coming off the bench to lead the way with a game-high 19 on 8-of-12 shooting. He was quickly followed by Raheem Odomes who scored 17, making 5-of-15 from the floor and 7-of-9 from the stripe. Darius Alexander and Adam Brown combined for 27 points with Alexander scoring 15 on 5-of-11 from the field and 2-of-3 from the free throw line; Alexander also led the team in rebounds, grabbing eight.
80 points have been averaged by SC in the 10 game stretch previously mentioned and they are scoring 74.1 for the season as a whole, second highest in the league. 43.2% of the team’s field goal attempts are finding the bottom of the net with at least six three-point shots scored each outing; Sterling is draining 31.9 percent of their shots from beyond the arc. A KCAC second best 42 rebounds are tallied by the Warriors and they tend to outrebound their opponent by nearly five boards which is the tops of the conference. The team is committing only 15 turnovers while totaling 12.4 assists per game.
Odomes scores an average of 16.9 points per contest, second in the KCAC, while making 52.5% of his attempts from the field which is third highest in the league; he is first on the team in assists (40) and blocks (11) while ranking second in rebounds per game (5.9) and free throw makes (63). Next on the scoring list is Brown who puts in 13.4 points an outing; he is the team leader in rebounds per game, grabbing 8.3 boards each time he hits the court which places him fourth in the conference. Eddie Adesodun and Alexander each score over 10 points a game, totaling 10.9 and 10.1, respectively.
A trip to Lindsborg, Kansas is the next stop for Sterling as they take on the Bethany College Terrible Swedes on January 16th.
