Men's Basketball | 1/7/2014 4:43:00 PM
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McPherson, Kan. – Currently sitting seventh in the conference after going 1-3 in the four games prior to the Winter Break, the 8-8 Bulldogs would like to get back to the front of the pack. They get their first chance on Thursday, January 9 when they travel to Hillsboro, Kansas for an 8:00 p.m. (CT) tipoff with the 9-6, 2-2 Tabor College Blue Jays; junior varsity is set to get underway at 4:00
The 'Dogs are coming off a couple of close games from their Mac Classic this past weekend; on Friday MC played Baker University for the second time this season. In their first meeting, McPherson took out the Wildcats in Baldwin City courtesy of a last second free throw by Joey Powers. This time, BU got the better of Mac in a tight battle.
The opening half was never controlled by one team for more than a few possessions as the two squads traded baskets most of the way. The Bulldogs took a 31-27 lead into the locker room after hitting a few late shots. A 12-of-30 showing from the floor with 3-of-9 from deep was recorded by MC; they also knocked in 4-of-8 from the charity stripe. Baker converted on 10-of-28 from the floor including a couple of three-point buckets; 5-of-8 free throws were made by the Wildcats.
Despite maintaining their advantage throughout the first part of the second period, McPherson was never able to break away. The lead traded hands for the middle part of the half and it was even at 61-61 with one-minute remaining. 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 saw 11-of-28 field goals fall with just two coming from deep; they were 8-of-13 from the charity stripe. BU netted 13-of-30 with one from downtown; they cashed in on 11-of-18 from the foul line.
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 ended the night with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting with 1-of-3 free throws falling. Devirous Johnson put in 17 points and snatched 14 rebounds to add another double-double to his collection. Brian (BJ) Johnson scored 12 points and a team second-best three assists, trailing TJ Grant by one dime. Kenny Berry Jr. scored just two points but hauled in 10 rebounds, nine off the defensive glass.
In the final game of the Classic, the 'Dogs took on Haskell Indian Nations University which they faced in Lawrence for the first game of the season; Mac won that contest on a last second hook shot by D Johnson. Scoring started slow on Saturday but MC quickly cranked it up and got ahead by 15 with less than 10 minutes to go in the half. HINU closed out the period with a 9-2 run, pulling the score to 42-38 in favor of McPherson. The Bulldogs counted 14-of-26 from the floor including 6-of-13 from deep and 8-of-11 from the foul line; Shivers knocked down five of the team's first half threes. Haskell made 16-of-32 with five from behind the arc; they converted on just 1-of-3 from the line.
The second half was controlled by the 'Dogs but they never got ahead by more than a handful. With eight minutes to play, HINU took their first lead since the first minute of the game. It went back-and-forth the rest of the way with multiple lead changes. With time diminishing, MC saw themselves down a point but made 1-of-2 foul shots to tie things and force the first overtime. After getting ahead by three, the game looked to be on lock-down but a flying three-ball from the Indians forced a second OT. Now having fouled out two of Haskell's big men, McPherson coasted to a perfect 6-of-6 shooting in double overtime, grabbing a 112-105 victory. Mac bucketed 21-of-40 from the field and 2-of-7 from the three-point line in the final 30 minutes; they also nailed 26-of-36 from the stripe. Haskell netted 25-of-53 with six from long range and 11-of-17 finding the bottom of the net.
The 'Dogs shot an impressive 53% from the floor for the game as 35-of-66 field goals were counted; they converted 8-of-20 from beyond the arc and made 72.3 percent from the foul line, 34-of-47. Losing the battle inside is an irregularity for McPherson but that happened on Saturday as Haskell, aided by their three trees, pulled down 49 rebounds compared to Mac's 37. The Bulldogs were +5 in the assist-to-turnover category as they netted 16 and 11, respectively; they also had four steals and two blocks on the night.
Scoring a career-high, B. Johnson cashed in on 11-of-15 from the floor and 14-of-21 from the free throw line; he also tallied 12 rebounds and a team leading seven assists. A career second-best 34 points were tallied by Shivers who ended the game with 10-of-19 shots making their way in with 6-of-13 from range and 8-of-9 from the stripe being counted; the senior is now 167 points off the all-time career scoring record for McPherson College. D. Johnson finished out the "big three" for Mac on Saturday as he logged 26 points and a team-high 13 rebounds; he was 8-of-14 from the field and 10-of-13 from the line. D. Johnson now has an impressive 11 double-doubles this season and continues to lead the NAIA in rebounds, averaging 12.7 per game. TJ Grant entered the game off the bench for MC and scored nine on 3-of-4 shooting with a pair of free throws.
Mac in the National Rankings: D. Johnson leads the NAIA in four different rebounding categories: Defensive Rebounds per Game (8.25), Offensive Rebounds per Game (4.50), Total Rebounds per Game (12.75) and Total Rebounds (204); he also leads the Nation in Double-Doubles with 11. Shivers is 13th in the NAIA D-II in Total Three-Point Field Goals made with 48 and 19th in Three Balls made a Game at 19. The team ranks 10th in NAIA Division-II in Total Rebounds with 675, 11th in Offensive Rebounds per Game at 14.3 and 14th in Total Rebounds an outing with 42.2
Bulldog basketball will be back on their home court on January 11th as they host the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes for a 7:00 p.m. contest.
Scouting Tabor
The Blue Jays will head into Thursday's contest with a 9-6 overall record, they are 2-2 against KCAC opponents. After losing their final KCAC game of 2013, TC has put together three-straight victories against non-conference opponents, all coming in 2014. Tabor took out NAIA Division-I and HAAC powerhouse Benedictine College 72-65, lowly D-II Central Baptist of Arkansas 85-71 and most recently Haskell Indian Nations Univ. 96-73.
In their competition against Haskell this past Monday, it was Blue Jay led from the get-go. Tabor took a 41-23 advantage into halftime and then came out in the second half and scored 55 to secure their 23-point triumph. TC made over 52% of their shot attempts with 41-of-78 falling through including just 3-of-13 from downtown; they counted 11-of-14 from the stripe. The Indians knocked down 25-of-67 with seven from behind the three-point line; 16-of-27 foul shots went in for HINU in their loss. The Jays did lose the rebounding battle 46-to-41 but forced 25 turnovers on 18 steals while logging 22 assists and 16 turnovers.
The leading Tabor point-getter was Lance Carter who bucketed 18 with seven of his 11 attempts falling; he knocked down 1-of-3 from range and 3-of-4 from the stripe while collecting a team-high eight rebounds. Dewayne Biggs netted 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting with one three ball and 3-of-4 free throws going through; he also tabbed six rebounds and five rebounds in his 28 minutes of play. Also totaling 16 points was Andrew Thomas who went 7-of-13 from the field and a perfect 2-of-2 from the stripe. D'Marco Smith was the final Blue Jay to make it over the 10-point hump with his 12; he cashed in on 6-of-10 field goals.
This season, TC has scored 1240 points, averaging 82.7 a contest and have a 2.60 positive score margin; 45.2% of the team's shots from the field have found their way through. They knock down 6.8 three-point field goals and have a 32.5 shooting percentage from downtown. From the foul stripe, Tabor is counting 69.7% of their tries. Despite having a relative high rebounding total, 38.8, they have a negative rebounding margin at this point in the season. 12.8 assists, 14.3 turnovers, 8.4 steals and 2.7 blocks are recorded by the Blue Jays each time they hit the court.
Biggs is the squad's leading scorer with his 17.5 average; he's made 83 field goals and 85 free throws while playing 419 minutes, all of which are team-highs. Brent Jackson is next on the scoring list as he nets 14.2 points an outing, scoring on 50% of his field goals during his 10 games played this season; he has not touched the court since mid-December. Scoring 12.5 a game is Thomas who is the team's leading big man; he has pulled down 83 rebounds and averages 6.9 a contest. Carter is the final TC player to get over 10 on a regular basis with his 10.9 average; he is second on the team in minutes played per game with 24.0.
It's out to Ottawa, Kansas for Tabor after their tussle with McPherson; the Blue Jays will play the OU Braves on January 11th.
