Men's Basketball | 2/14/2013 11:48:00 PM
Box Score
Sterling, Kan. – A late push by McPherson fell just short as Sterling College held at home. The 79-70 loss to the Warriors on Thursday keeps the 11-17 Bulldogs in 8th place of the KCAC standings with one game remaining.
The contest began with a steal by McPherson’s Adam Bruner but a missed layup, signs of things to come for the ‘Dogs, gave SC another chance to score the first bucket, something they were happy to take care of the second time around. The Warriors led for all but two minutes of the opening period and started to break away as they closed in on the 10-minute mark but a mini-run by Mac brought the score margin back to a handful which is where it stayed until the half’s closing seconds when four-straight baskets by Sterling put them ahead by double figures for the first time. A layup by Joey Powers brought the first period to a close with the Bulldogs trailing 34-25.
A 10-of-28 showing by MC was enough to keep things interesting in the first half; they made 10-of-28 from the field, 2-of-9 from deep and all three of their free throws. The home team Sterling shot over 50% in the opening 20 minutes, draining 15-of-28 field goals; 2-of-5 from three-point land and 2-of-3 from the stripe were logged by the Warriors. Raheem Odomes scored over half SC’s points, cashing in on 9-of-13 from the floor.
The Bulldogs scored on their first three possessions of the second half but five-straight points by Sterling increased the score back to double-digits. McPherson quickly retaliated the next time they had the ball and pulled within five; the deficit stayed in single figures for the next several minute but MC was never able to pull closer than four as a 9-0 Warrior run pushed SC’s lead to 13, the highest of the game. Mac battled back with a 7-0 run of their own, bringing the distance to a reachable number with under five to play. In the closing moments of the game, McPherson would get within six a few times but never any closer, ultimately losing 79-70.
Mac was able to put in 15-of-35 in the second half with 5-of-15 falling through the hoop from behind the three-point line; 10-of-15 from the foul line was also tabbed by the Bulldogs. Sterling continued to hit their shots in the game’s final 20 minutes as 17-of-32 were counted; 5-of-12 from deep and 6-of-11 from the stripe were totaled by the Warriors.
McPherson closed out the game making 39.7 percent of their 63 shot attempts; they went 7-of-24 from downtown and 13-of-18 from the free throw line. SC saw 32-of-60 of their field goals counted in the win with 7-of-17 coming from distance; an 8-of-14 night was totaled from the stripe for Sterling. It was a relatively low rebounding game with the Warriors grabbing the most as they hauled in 37 to MC’s 36. Each team turned the ball over 12 times; Mac stole six while SC recorded five. 32 of Sterling’s points came from bench players; only four were tallied by McPherson’s.
Samson Shivers (Houston, Texas) had another solid game for the ‘Dogs, draining 8-of-15 with six three balls and five free throws for 27 points.
Adam Bruner (McPherson, Kan.) and
Devirous Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) each totaled 15 points for Mac; Bruner made 6-of-15 from the field with 3-of-3 going in from the stripe and Johnson was 5-of-9 from the floor with 5-of-6 foul line attempts being counted. Johnson also led the team in rebounds with nine, three offensive.
Jake Reinhardt (Walton, Kan.) brought down eight rebounds to go along with his six points.
Odomes ended the contest with 23 points, coming on 11-of-16 from the field and 1-of-2 from the stripe. Eddie Adesodun was next in the scoring line for SC, bucketing 6-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the free throw line for 19 points. Adam Brown totaled 13 points and 13 rebounds for the game’s lone double-double and his 13
th of the season. Darius Alexander rounded out the Warrior’s double figure scorers with 11.
The Bethel Threshers come to McPherson for the Bulldogs’ final regular season game of the year. The February 16
th matchup is to start at 7:00 p.m. (CT) with junior varsity kicking off at 3:00 p.m. A win for Mac and they’re in the tournament, a loss and it’s in the hands of Kansas Wesleyan.
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