Men's Basketball | 1/3/2014 11:09:00 PM
Box Score
McPherson, Kan. – It was a very low scoring affair in the final game of day one of the McPherson Classic as Baker University edged out the Mac men 65-63; the 'Dogs drop to 7-8 on the year with the loss.
The first few minutes of the contest went back and forth before BU jumped ahead with a 6-0 mini-run. In the game of runs, Mac put together six-straight to even things up at 12-12 a few possessions later for the fourth tie of the period. The Bulldogs maintained the lead for the next several minutes, trailing just once in the half's final 10. McPherson excited the court at halftime ahead 31-27.
A 40% shooting percentage was logged by the 'Dogs in the opening period as 12-of-30 field goals found the bottom of the net; they bucketed 3-of-9 from the arc and saw 50% of their eight foul shots go through. Baker made 10-of-28 from the floor with a pair of three-point field goals; they connected on one more foul shot than MC, cashing in on 5-of-8. McPherson's Samson Shivers led all scoring in the first half with 11; counting 4-of-6 from the floor with three being from downtown.
The Bulldogs stayed out in front in the opening minutes of the second half but was not able to extend their lead past the five-point mark. Baker would occasionally take a lead here or there for the middle portion of the period but never got ahead for a substantial amount of time. With 56 seconds to play, things were all square at 61. Nearly exactly 35 seconds later, BU put one through to take a two-point advantage with 20 ticks left. A missed three by Mac was rebounded by the Bulldogs but a turnover gave the ball back to the Wildcats with just seven seconds to play. Following two free throw makes by Baker to put them up four, McPherson missed a three-ball but got the put back to fall as time expired, giving them the 65-63 defeat.
The 'Dogs made just one more point in the second period than they did in the first as 11-of-28 shots fell including 2-of-8 from three-point land; they knocked in 8-of-13 from the foul line. Baker tallied 13-of-30 field goals in the final 20 minutes with a 1-of-5 showing from deep and 11-of-18 from the stripe; BU turned to the paint for scoring in the second half, making 28.
At the end of the day, McPherson saw 23-of-58 balls go through the hoop including just five from long range; they made a poor 57.2 percent from the charity stripe, 12-of-21. Only 35 rebounds were pulled down by Mac, eight less than their opponent. The 'Dogs netted 13 assists, 10 turnovers, seven blocks and four steals in the 40-minute contest. The MC starters scored all but eight points on Friday.
Shivers (Houston, Texas)ended the night with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting with 1-of-3 free throws falling. Devirous Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) put in 17 points and snatched 14 rebounds to add another double-double to his collection. Brian (BJ) Johnson (Kansas City, Kan.) scored 12 points and a team second-best three assists, trailing TJ Grant (South Bend, Ind.) by one dime. Kenny Berry Jr. (Lee's Summit, Mo.) scored just two points but hauled in 10 rebounds, nine off the defensive glass.
A short turnaround is in store for McPherson as they play Haskell Indian Nations on day two of the McPherson Classic; tipoff for the final game of the Classic is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (CT) on January 4th
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