Men's Basketball | 2/8/2013 11:24:00 AM
Game Notes
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McPherson, Kan. – Following the MC loss to Friends on Thursday and the upset by KWU against Sterling, the competition for the conferences seventh and eighth spots is extreme. Both the Coyotes and McPherson need the win when they face each other on February 9th at 7:00 p.m. (CT); junior varsity will play 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
McPherson scored the first points of the game against the Falcons and stayed out on top for most of the half, leading by as many as seven points. The ‘Dogs controlled the majority of the opening period, trailing by a small handful briefly in the middle section of the first 20 minutes. The defense of MC gave Friends a headache as they shut down their top player, Joe Mitchell, by employing a box-and-one on him anytime he was on the court; Mitchell scored just one field goal in the first half. Mac held on to a 27-23 advantage as the two teams went into their locker rooms.
The Falcons, angered by trailing in their home gymnasium, came out firing in the second period and took the lead shortly into the half. MC retaliated and jumped back out in front with a pair of back-to-back buckets. A back-and-forth contest would ensue as neither team was willing to give up an inch. Down the stretch, the Bulldogs held on to a five-point advantage with under two minutes to go but a series of unfortunate events resulted in a one-point lead for Friends with just 17 seconds remaining on the clock. McPherson would put the ball in the hands of Sampson Shivers but his shot went awry and the tip was too late, giving the home team the 56-55 win.
Mac finished the contest 18-of-51 from the field, 4-of-14 from deep and 15-of-21 from the free throw line. The Falcons tallied 20-of-56 from the field with five three balls falling through; they were 11-of-16 from the stripe. Mac pulled down one more rebound than Friends as they snatched 38 with 11 coming on the offensive end. Both teams logged 12 turnovers in the contest.
Shivers finished the competition 4-of-14 with two three pointers making their way through the net; he was 6-of-8 from the stripe. Jake Reinhardt scored 10 points and brought down 11 rebounds for his double-double; he was 4-of-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from the foul line. Joey Powers entered the game from the bench and scored eight points on 4-of-7 shooting.
The Bulldogs will travel to the KCAC No. 2 Sterling College on February 14th for a special Valentine’s Day contest; tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. (CT)
Scouting Kansas Wesleyan
After a rough first half of the season, the Coyotes have won four of their last eight conference games, tying them with Ottawa University for seventh place in the KCAC standings. After upsetting Sterling 90-81 on Thursday, KWU has won two-straight for the first time since their opening games of the season.
In the contest against SC, the Coyotes were unconscious from the field while the Warriors couldn’t buy a bucket. In their home gym, Kansas Wesleyan made 55.6% of their 63 field goals with 11-of-25 falling through from distance; they nailed 9-of-11 from the charity stripe. Sterling, for the second game in a row, struggled from the floor as they converted on just 28-of-77; they made 9-of-34 from behind the arc and 16-of-26 from the foul line. SC gobbled up the rebounds, pulling down 51 total and 24 off the offensive glass which allowed them to take their 77 shot attempts. Both squads were under 10 for total turnovers in the contest.
Cannon Fields and Dylan Hidalgo each tallied 18 points for KWU; Fields was 7-of-14 from the field and 3-of-3 from the stripe while Hidalgo made 7-of-11 field goals and 1-of-2 free throws. Fields also tallied 10 rebounds and 10 assists for a triple-double. Brock Borovetz scored 16 points on 5-of-9 from the floor and a perfect 4-of-4 from the foul line. Dane Brinker closed out the double-digit scorers for Kansas Wesleyan as he scored on 6-of-11 field goals for 12 points.
A KCAC second best 77.48 points per game are scored by the ‘Yotes; they make 41.2% of their field goal attempts and log 7.5 three balls an outing. They have the conference’s highest free throw percentage, making 73 percent of their shots from the charity stripe. KWU usually gets outrebounded as they struggle to pull down defensive boards, giving up many second chances; they grab 37.4 a contest while allowing over 40. This season, they are averaging 14.4 turnovers, 13.8 assists and 8.4 steals each game.
Cannon Fields ranks first on the team and in the conference in points per game with 23, placing him fourth in the NAIA D-II; he has made 199 field goals this year and makes 43.5% of his attempts while also leading the team in rebounds, recording 8.1 each time he touches the court. Borovetz is second on the team in scoring as he buckets 12.9 an outing with the majority of his points coming from behind the three-point line as he’s drained 67 this year. Brinker is the final Coyote to average over 10 a game; he tallies 11 points per contest.
KWU will be on the road again for their next competition as they travel to play Bethany College.
