Lindsborg, Kan. – After trailing 53-36 at halftime, the McPherson College men's basketball team rallied in the second to defeat No. 24 Bethany College 104-101 in Lindsborg. The Bulldogs move to 4-6 on the year and are 1-0 in the conference.
"I am proud of our guys and the fact they never gave up," said Coach Swartzendruber. "I believed we could do it. Our defense and rebounding were so much better in the second half and we did a great job at the free throw line. Hopefully this will give us a shot of confidence."
The first seven minutes of the game was an up-and-down battle between the two teams; the Swedes led early but Mac stayed on their heels and held the lead a few times in the opening minutes. An 11-0 run by BC put them on top for the remainder of the half. MC headed into the locker room down 53-36 after they failed to score for the final three minutes. McPherson put up 41 shots and made 15 in the first half but was just 2-of-7 from deep while BC drained 63% (19-of-30) of their field goals including an incredible 7-of-10 from deep.
McPherson began cutting into the Bethany lead in the first minutes of the second period but the Swedes kept their distance. The 'Dogs finally got the deficit to single figures before the midway point of the half; Mac continued to trail and weren't able to get even until late in the game. With 1:16 showing on the clock, MC tied it up for the first time since the 13-minute mark of the first half. The Bulldogs would then take the lead on a DeAndre Henson three-ball with 28 seconds to play; following a pair of missed threes by BC, McPherson snuck out with the 104-101 victory. Mac connected on 20-of-37 field goals and 24-of-28 free throws in the foul-heavy second half. Bethany went 16-of-40 from the floor but was a poor 12-of-22 from the stripe.
The 'Dogs closed out the game shooting in 44.9% of their shot attempts, 35-of-78, with 6-of-19 from downtown dropping through; the team recorded an 80% free throw percentage, dropping in 28-of-35. Mac hauled in 52 rebounds, 12 more than their opponent, with 22 coming on the offensive side of the floor. They had an even 13 turnovers and assists while recording 10 steals and a pair of blocks. 48 points came in the paint, 27 were second-chance points, and 19 of their total came from bench players.
Darius Hill had a very solid showing for MC as he scored a game-high, and career-high, 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting; he was 7-of-7 from the charity stripe and also gobbled up 11 rebounds, five offensive. Henson bucketed 9-of-21 field goals and 4-of-8 free throws for his career-high 25 points. TJ Grant made his living at the line, making 9-of-10; the senior, who had a team-high six assists, also went 3-of-11 from the floor for a total of 16 points. Page Beeler and Ramon Martinez each added 10 points to the team's cause; Beeler grabbed nine rebounds to put him second on the team.
McPherson takes on the Threshers on December 6th in North Newton at 7:00 p.m. (CT) for their next contest; the junior varsity will get underway at 3:00.
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McPherson College is a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference member school and a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
