Men's Basketball | 11/15/2013 10:50:00 AM
Game Notes
Live Stats
McPherson, Kan. – The season continues for Mac men's basketball this weekend as they travel to Muskogee, Oklahoma on November 16
th to play the Bacone College Warriors; tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. (CT)
MC is coming off a 94-52 exhibition loss to NCAA Division-II Emporia State University this past Tuesday. The Hornets were playing in their first home game of the year and used the excitement from the crowd to fuel their near unconscious night from the field. It didn't help the Bulldogs that they started the night 0-fer, getting down early 13-0; after shots did begin to fall for Mac, ESU just poured it on more, leading by 20 for most of the opening period. As the halftime buzzer sounded, the 'Dogs found themselves down 47-25.
McPherson was able to make 36.7% of their 30 shot attempts, seeing 11 fall with a 1-of-7 showing from deep; they only attempted three free throws in the first half and made two. Emporia State cashed in on 56.3 percent from the field and made 7-of-14 from behind the arc; ESU also went 50% from the charity stripe as they converted 4-of-8.
In the second half, the Hornets stayed on fire making it difficult for MC to make up any ground. 10 minutes into the period and the Emporia State found themselves leading by 30+; five minutes later and they were up by 40. The clock struck zeros with the final score showing 94 for the home team and 52 for the visiting Bulldogs.
They say that the harder you try to make shots, the more you'll miss and that was the case for Mac as they saw just 9-of-29 field goals go through the net in the second half; a mere 1-of-11 was made from long range but the team did make 8-of-11 from the line. ESU loved having the home court advantage as they drained 19-of-35 from the floor and 8-of-16 from three-point land; they only made it to the stripe twice and hit one.
For the game, the Bulldogs were 20-of-59 with 2-of-22 three balls falling; they made 71.4% of their 14 free throws. The squad turned the ball over just 12 times but was only able to grab three steals and force six turnovers from Emporia State. ESU pulled in 40 rebounds to MC's 33; Mac had eight offensive boards.
Devirous Johnson led McPherson and nearly all scorers with his 17 points; he went 6-of-10 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the line while totaling a team-high nine rebounds as well. Samson Shivers also made it into double figures with 11; he hit just 3-of-12 field goals but made all four of his attempts from the charity stripe. D'onte Woods contributed off the bench for the Bulldogs, scoring nine points on 4-of-6 shooting with a free throw.
Bulldogs in the National Rankings: T.J. Grant is the country's leader in assist to turnover ratio at 9.0. D. Johnson is fourth in the NAIA in total rebounds per game (12), eighth in offensive rebounds a contest (4.2), and ninth in both defensive rebounds an outing (7.8) and total rebounds (60). Shivers places 22nd in three-point field goals made with 15.
Mac has a big home game on Tuesday, November 19 as they host their cross-town rivals in the Central Christian College Tigers. Game time for junior varsity is 4:00 p.m. while the varsity kicks off at 8:00
Scouting Bacone
After starting the season with four-straight losses, the Warriors found their rhythm on Thursday as they defeated Mid-America Christian 97-95 in a high scoring overtime contest.
BC came back from a five-point halftime deficit to tie things up in regulation, hitting a three-pointer with under 20 seconds to play. In overtime, a couple free throws gave the Warriors the win. Both teams hit 33 buckets in the 45-minute game with Bacone netting a 50% field goal percentage as they took 66 shots; 9-of-25 were made from behind the arc as were 22-of-33 free throws. MACU went 33-of-76 from the floor with just 4-of-14 three balls going in; they also struggled from the stripe, hitting 25-of-41. Bacone led in rebounds but also turnovers as they tallied 47 and 21 compared to Mid-America Christian's 45 and 15, respectively.
Jeremy McClain scored a team-high 28 points on 13-of-17 field goals and 2-of-8 free throws; he also boarded 14 rebounds to lead the team. Creed Flowers hit 20+ as well for BC, making 6-of-11 from the floor with four three pointers; the bench player bucketed 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Christian Smith and Geo Brewer both made it into double figures with Smith making six field goals and four free throws for his 18 while Brewer went 5-of-9 from the floor with one from the foul line for 13.
The Warriors are scoring over 88 points a game but boast just a 1-4 record as their score margin is -12.2. Nearly 43% of the team's field goals are being counted with an average of 7.6 three-point buckets going through; they make 33 percent of their shots from deep. 44.6 rebounds are averaged by Bacone and they tend to win the rebounding battle. BC also tallies 13 assists, 16.8 turnovers and five steals a game.
Three players have an average of at least 15 points a game for Bacone. They are led by Flowers who has a team-high 15.6; he is also the team leader in three balls with 12. Brewer and Derrick Thomas each are netting 15.0 points a contest; Brewer is making over 50% of his shots while Thomas has played a team-high 169 minutes. Smith is totaling a double-double each time he hits the court, averaging 14.0 points and 10.8 rebounds. McClain is the final Warrior that is making 10 points or more a game this season; he averages 12.4, hitting 62.2% from the field.
Bacone will travel to Southwestern College on the 19th for their next contest.
