Men's Basketball | 1/9/2014 11:27:00 PM
Box Score
Hillsboro, Kan. – Close but not quite for Bulldog basketball on Thursday as they lost a rough 69-63 contest to the Tabor College Blue Jays. MC is now 8-9 for the season, 1-4 in the KCAC.
Tabor would score first but it was a McPherson driven opening half as the Bulldogs set the pace and stayed in front throughout most of the game's first 20 minutes. Mac was not able to mount a lead larger than five, allowing the Jays to keep close. TC closed out the half on a 9-0 run, giving them a 34-27 lead at the break.
MC made just 10-of-34 from the field in the first period including four from behind the three-point line; 50 percent of their six free throw attempts dropped. The Blue Jays cashed in on 15 of their 32 field goals with just one from downtown; also attempting just a few foul shots, Tabor made 3-of-5 from the charity stripe.
In the second, TC kept their advantage and pushed it to nine but never into double figures. This time it was Mac's turn to make a comeback push as they put together 12-straight, giving them a four-point lead with just over 10 minutes to play. There would be multiple lead changes and ties in the next few minutes with the final lead change coming with 3:05 showing on the clock, and it was in Tabor's favor. The Jays stayed just out of reach of McPherson in the final minutes and held on for a six-point victory.
The 'Dogs saw the ball fall much more often in the second half as 14-of-26 from the floor found the bottom of the net; they counted 6-of-11 free throws and two from deep. Tabor converted on 11-of-25 including just one of their six from long range going down; they bucketed 12-of-16 from the stripe.
After the 40 minutes, McPherson logged a 40% field goal percentage as 24 of their 60 shots went in; they drained 6-of-25 from behind the three-point line and 9-of-17 from the foul stripe. 41 rebounds were logged by the Bulldogs with 16 coming on the offensive end. They also netted 18 turnovers, 16 assists, six steals and two blocks.
Brian (BJ) Johnson (Kansas City, Kan.) led the way for Mac with his 12 points on 3-of-4 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe; he also had a team-high seven assists and tabbed six rebounds.
Devirous Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and
Joey Powers (Welch, Okla.) knocked in 10 points; D Johnson had four field goals and a pair of free throws drop while Powers was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field. D Johnson hauled in a team leading 11 rebounds for yet another double; he now has 12 in the team's 17 games.
Erik DeRoo (Tyler, Texas) banged in three from downtown for his nine points while
Samson Shivers (Houston, Texas) ended the night with just eight.
Mac will face Kansas Wesleyan University for their next contest; the 'Yotes travel to McPherson for a Saturday night matchup on January 11
th; JV is set for 3:00 p.m. (CT) with varsity starting at 7:00
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