Men's Basketball | 1/5/2013 10:39:00 PM
Box Score
McPherson, Kan. – A very foul-heavy basketball game leaves McPherson College on the wrong side of a 71-58 score line as the Bulldogs couldn’t get any shots to drop against the Friends University Falcons. MC is now 6-11 for the year.
Four points was the largest margin between the two teams in the game’s first period. McPherson seemed to be in total control right out of the gate but couldn’t increase their lead, giving Friends the chance to hang around. A three-point basket with under a minute to play in the half gave MC the 25-24 lead heading into the locker room.
The ‘Dogs made 11-of-25 from the field and 2-of-5 from behind the three-point line in the first 20 minutes of the game; only four trips to the free throw line were warranted to McPherson, they made just one. Friends used late three-point shots to propel them to their 36% field goal percentage; they made 3-of-5 from the charity stripe. Mac’s Samson Shivers (Houston, Texas) got off to a hot start as he had seven points in the first half; he was 3-of-4 from the field.
In the second period, Friends scored first and quickly increased their lead to 12 points before the Bulldogs knew the half even started, bringing the score to 37-25. McPherson came to life and got their deficit to four points with 11 minutes left in the game but could get no closer as five-straight points by the Falcons deterred MC; Friends got up by as many as 15 in the final 10 minutes and made enough of their free throws down the stretch to preserve their 71-58 win.
A big goose-egg sat in the three-point category for McPherson in the second half as the Bulldogs went 0-10 from downtown; they made 9-of-22 from the rest of the field and were 15-of-19 from the stripe. The Falcons upped their game in the second half, making 60.9 percent of their 23 shots including going 4-of-7 from deep.
Mac ended the contest just 20-of-57 from the field and a lowly 2-of-15 from behind the arc; a 16-of-23 showing from the free throw line is something positive MC can take away from their offensive possessions. Friends only made three more shots than the Bulldogs and also took fewer attempts, putting their field goal percentage at 47.9 for the game; they made 18-of-28 from the charity stripe. Each team only turned the ball over 13 times and McPherson won the rebounding battle grabbing five more boards than Friends with 38.
Adam Bruner (McPherson, Kan.) was the top scorer for McPherson with his 15 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 from the stripe; he also had five assists and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the year. Shivers and Mason Hewitt (Norwich, Kan.) each put in 12 points; Shivers hit 4-of-13 from the field and 3-of-5 from the free throw line while Hewitt was 5-of-7 from the floor and a perfect 2-of-2 from the charity stripe. Devirous Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.)was close to his own double-double as he ended the game with eight points and eight rebounds.
Thomas Bland led the Friends players in scoring with 20 points, the majority of which came in the game’s final minutes from the stripe; he was 5-of-11 from the floor and 8-of-13 from the free throw line. Junian Johnson came off the bench and scored 12 points, being the only other Falcon to score double figures. Zach Nelson and Anthony White were close to the 10-point mark as they scored nine and eight points, respectively; White also tallied 11 rebounds.
The Bulldogs will continue to search for their first KCAC win of the season as they travel to Salina, Kansas for their next competition. The game will be against the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes with tipoff set for January 10th at 8:00 p.m. (CT)
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