Denver, Colo. – McPherson College men's basketball picked up their first loss of the season on Friday as they fell to Northern New Mexico College 87-85 in overtime of their first game of the Johnson & Wales University Classic. Mac is now 2-1 on the year.
"Northern New Mexico is a quality team," said Coach Swartzendruber. "We had our chances but couldn't convert. We need to bounce back tomorrow."
In the opening period, it was very evenly matched as the two clubs stayed neck-and-neck for the first several minutes. The Bulldogs jumped ahead on an 8-0 run and maintained their advantage for the duration of the half. MC led by 10 at the break 45-35.
Mac went 16-of-32 from the field in the opening 20 minutes including 8-of-17 from deep; they knocked in all five of their free throw attempts. The Eagles connected on 13-of-30 field goals and four were from beyond the arc; the team went 5-of-9 from the charity stripe.
The first few of the second half were controlled by Mac as they stayed up by double-digits. The Eagles put together an 8-0 run to get close and stayed within reach of the 'Dogs. NNMC tied it up around the 10-minute mark and took their first lead with 2:22 showing on the clock. It was a tight battle for the rest of the half and a last-second buzzer beater by McPherson didn't fall, forcing overtime as the teams were tied at 73-73.
In OT, Northern New Mexico made their first two buckets and the Bulldogs did not giving the Eagles the early edge. Mac played catch-up basketball and trailed by three with the ball and 20 seconds to play. A pair of misses and offensive rebounds gave MC three chances but none would fall. Following two made free throws by NNMC, McPherson got it again but were down five. A last second three fell through for the 'Dogs but it wasn't enough as they lost 87-85.
In the final 25, MC converted on 11-of-31 field goals and were just 3-of-11 from distance; the 'Dogs also struggled at the stripe where they went 3-of-6. NNMC upped their shooting from the first half as they saw 15-of-34 go down including 3-of-9 from range; they still had issues at the stripe, making 5-of-11.
McPherson ended the game with a 43.1 percent field goal percentage (31-of-72); they made 12-of-32 from deep and 11-of-16 from the foul line. 34 MC points were scored from bench players, 21 came off of turnovers, and 14 were second chance points. The team pulled down 41 rebounds, had 21 turnovers, and 15 assists.
Darius Hill scored a team-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting; he also made 4-of-6 free throws and had 12 total rebounds for his third-straight double-double. Freshman shooting guard Aaron Bachura scored 14 points; he was 3-of-6 from deep, 1-of-1 from two-point land, and 3-of-3 from the foul line. TJ Grant and Page Beeler also hit double figures scoring with 12 and 10, respectively; Beeler had 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
Mac is back on the court tomorrow, November 8 as they take on Johnson & Wales University at 8:00 p.m. (CT) in the final game of the classic.
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McPherson College is a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference member school and a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
