Men's Basketball | 2/15/2013 11:33:00 AM
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McPherson, Kan. – Saturday’s contest with the Bethel College Threshers is one of the most important ones of the season for the Bulldogs as they need to win in order to guarantee the eighth seed in the KCAC Postseason Tournament. Tipoff for the February 16th competition is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. (CT) in McPherson with JV starting at 3:00 p.m.
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
The Bulldogs lost by 10-or-less for the tenth time this season in Sterling on Thursday. SC got in front early and led for nearly the entire opening half with the ‘Dogs holding the advantage for a two-minute scoring drought just a couple minutes into the competition. Sterling began pushing their lead towards double figures at the midway point of the half but Mac held firm and kept their deficit within a handful. As the period was winding down, four-straight buckets by the Warriors moved them to a double-digit advantage but a buzzer-beating layup by MC’s Joey Powers put the score at 34-25 at halftime.
McPherson brought the score back to a manageable number with three-straight baskets to open the second period but a 5-0 run by Sterling moved the score back to 10+. Another surge by the Bulldogs got them within five and then four but another run by SC increased the score margin to 13 points. MC, ever resilient, put together seven-straight points to pull their deficit to six but that was the closest they would get the remainder of the contest. The ‘Dogs got within six a few more times in the final minutes but time ran out with 79-70 showing on the scoreboard in favor of the home team 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.
Sampson Shivers had another solid game for the ‘Dogs, draining 8-of-15 with six three balls and five free throws for 27 points. Adam Bruner and Devirous Johnson 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 brought down eight rebounds to go along with his six points.
With a win against Bethel on Saturday, McPherson will head to Leavenworth, Kansas to take on KCAC No. 1 University of Saint Mary on February 20th for a 7:00 p.m. (CT) tipoff in round one of the conference tournament. A loss puts all hopes of making the postseason tourney in the outcome of the Tabor College vs. Kansas Wesleyan contest; if the Coyotes are victorious, they’ll take the eight seed, kicking Mac out of postseason play but if the Blue Jays end the game on top, McPherson will still garner No. 8 in the tournament and face USM on the 20th.
Scouting Bethel
This has certainly been a trying season for second-year head coach Alonzo Jamison and the Bethel College Threshers as their 3-24 overall record is dead-last in the KCAC where they are 2-15. One of their two victories this year came nearly a month ago when they took down McPherson College on a buzzer-beating bank shot. The other came just over a week ago when they traveled to Ottawa, Kansas and grounded one out against the Braves. An 88-74 loss to the Moundbuilders of Southwestern is the team’s most recent contest.
Against SWC on Thursday, the game came down to free throws and the Builders hit more than BC, giving them the win. Bethel shot the ball very well from the floor, making 44.2 percent of their 52 field goals; they drained 10-of-23 from deep and 18-of-27 from the stripe. Southwestern hit 28-of-65 from the floor with 50% of their 18 threes going in; a 23-of-37 night from the charity stripe was recorded by SWC. Bethel did a terrible job on the glass, allowing 21 offensive rebounds to be gathered up by the Moundbuilders; Southwestern totaled 50 rebounds in the contest while BC had 28 for the game. The Builders also did a nice job distributing the ball, handing out 18 assists; Bethel totaled 10 dimes and 16 turnovers in the loss.
Lee Griffin went off from downtown for the Threshers as he made 4-of-5 three pointers; he also hit 3-of-7 two-point field goals and 6-of-11 from the foul line for his game-high 24 points. Adam Arciniega totaled 12 points in the loss, cashing in on 5-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-4 from the stripe. Ronnie Hodge was Bethel’s final double-digit scorer, making 4-of-10 from the field for 11 points; he also led the club in rebounds with five.
BC hasn’t had much trouble scoring this season as they average 72.3 a game but they give up a league-worst 84.22, making for some high-scoring, disappointing contests. 41.2 percent of their field goals find their way through the hoop with an average of six three point baskets made per contest. The team averages 36 rebounds an outing but give up over 40 boards to their opponents. 15.7 turnovers, 9.9 assists and 6.9 steals are tallied by the Threshers each game.
Arcinega averages 16 points a game while hitting 47.6 percent from the floor; he has scored 161 field goals and also leads the team in rebounds per contest with 7.1. Griffin is scoring 12.7 points each time he hits the court with a good deal of his total coming from the stripe as he’s made a team-high 97 free throws. Hodge is the team’s three-point man as he’s bucketed 66 this season; he averages 12.2 points a game.
Bethel will end the 2012-13 season following their game with McPherson.
