Men's Basketball | 2/23/2013 11:15:00 PM
Box Score
Wichita, Kan. – It was a game with 14 lead changes and nine ties; both McPherson and Friends needed the victory to keep their chance of traveling to Point Lookout, Missouri alive. After 39 minutes of intense action, a last-second shot by
Kasey Miller (Derby, Kan.), Friday night’s hero, gave MC another upset as they defeated the Falcons 81-80.
It was a close one in the first half in Wichita as the two squads were never more than a handful of points away from each other; the largest lead belonged to the Bulldogs who got ahead by six in the first few minutes. McPherson seemed to be the aggressors for the majority of the period, until a late shift occurred by Friends as they strung together a few baskets. The Falcons took their lead into halftime, going into the locker room up 36-34.
Mac continued their sharp-shooting from Friday night’s contest, draining 13-of-22 from the field in the first 20 minutes; they made just 2-of-7 three balls and were 6-of-10 from the foul line. Friends also had a good half of shooting as they converted on 13-of-21 from the floor with 9-of-21 counting from downtown; they attempted only two free throws and bucketed one. The Falcons went 4-of-7 from two-point land, settling for shots from beyond the arc. MC’s Jake Reinhardt led the first half in scoring with his 10 points on a perfect 4-of-4 field goals and 2-of-2 free throws.
The game’s final period was a thriller as neither team was willing to give an inch in the last 20 minutes. Friends was the aggressor in the opening part of half, pushing the tempo and controlling the game but they could never get ahead by more than a few. McPherson would flip-flop the lead occasionally but never seemed to be in charge of the pace. In the final few minutes, things got intense with both squads cherishing each possession; the Falcons put in a few back-to-back buckets and jumped ahead by eight in the waning minutes at 76-68.
A mini-run by Mac pulled them to a one-point deficit with less than one minute remaining. A basket by
Adam Bruner (McPherson, Kan.) put the ‘Dogs up by one but a quick layup by FU gave the Falcons the lead with 17 seconds showing on the clock. McPherson missed a shot on the ensuing possession and fouled Friends player Zach Nelson who made his way to the charity stripe. Two missed free throws and a quick timeout gave the Bulldogs the ball with two ticks left. A hail-mary pass was tipped by a Falcon and found its way to Miller who put up a shot as time expired; the ball bounced twice on the rim, hit the back board then a couple more touches on the rim before falling through, giving MC the 81-80 victory. McPherson ended the game on a 13-4 run.
Both teams stayed on fire from the field in the second half; Mac went 18-of-33 from the floor with 4-of-9 falling in from downtown and 7-of-10 from the free throw line. Friends nailed 14-of-25 field goals including six three pointers; they made up for their lack of foul shots in the first period with 18 in the second, they converted on 10. The Falcons only committed two turnovers in the second period and ended with five for the contest.
The Bulldogs ended the game with a 56.4 field goal percentage as they made 31-of-55; 6-of-16 attempts from long range found their way through the hoop as did 13-of-20 free throws. The Falcons made nearly 51% of their 53 shots from the floor with 15 three balls finding the bottom of the net; they went 11-of-20 from the charity stripe. MC pulled down their season average in rebounds as they grabbed 39, including 12 off the offensive glass; Friends recorded 20 boards. McPherson also led in second chance points as they scored 20 to the Falcons’ four.
Five Mac players found their way to double-digits scoring and were led by Reinhardt and
Samson Shivers (Houston, Texas) who each scored 16. On his way to a career-high, Reinhardt went 6-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the foul line while tallying a team-high 11 rebounds; Shivers bucketed 5-of-14 field goals and 4-of-5 free throws. Bruner closed out the contest scoring 14 on 6-of-14 shooting with 2-of-5 attempts from the charity stripe going in.
Joey Powers (Welch, Okla.) entered the game from the bench and scored 12 as 5-of-7 from the floor went through.
Devirous Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) rounded out the double figure scorers with his 10 points, he also had eight rebounds.
Friends’ Colton Rausch was on from deep, draining 4-of-5 three balls as well as 2-of-3 from two-point range and 2-of-2 from the stripe for a team-high 18 points. Brandon Johnson came alive in this contest, scoring 16 on 5-of-8 field goals including four from behind the arc; he was 2-of-2 from the foul line. Anthony White scored 13 points in the loss and was followed by Joe Mitchell who had 11.
The ‘Dogs will now prepare for the KCAC Postseason Tournament championship game. They will take on the Sterling College Warriors in Hartman Arena in Park City, Kansas early next week. The contest is scheduled for Monday, February 25 but may be moved due to potential weather conditions; make sure to keep checking Macbulldogs.com for any updates.
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