Men's Basketball | 2/1/2014 11:57:00 PM
Box Score
Sterling, Kan. – It was the lowest scoring total of the season for the Bulldogs as they dropped a 71-58 contest against the Warriors of Sterling College. MC slides to 12-12 for the season and a sixth place 5-7 in the conference.
"We played hard and defended extremely well, unfortunately we could not make shots," said Coach Swartzendruber. "We had numerous opportunities at the beginning of the game and the start of the second half and didn't get it done. We need to bounce back and be ready next week."
Mac had the opportunities early but was unable to convert their field goals in the first part of the opening period, allowing a sloppily played first 10 minutes to go the way of the Warriors. It was slow scoring for both teams throughout most of the opening half until an 11-0 run by SC put McPherson in a 15-point hole just minutes before halftime. MC pushed back in the last couple and got within nine at the break, trailing 42-33.
With the majority of their points coming in the second half of the opening period, the Bulldogs shot in 11-of-32 with 3-of-8 going down from behind the arc; they made eight of their 11 free throws. Sterling connected on 14-of-33 with seven from distance; they shot in only 7-of-15 from the charity stripe. SC's Eddie Adesodun was 7-of-12 in the first half with five falling from deep and two from the line for 21 points.
In the second, the 'Dogs quickly brought the score-gap back to single figures but then were put into a deeper hole by an 8-0 run by SC that put them ahead by seven just a few minutes later. Mac pulled back within 10 at the midway point of the half but that would be the closest they came the rest of the way as Sterling kept the Bulldogs at arm's length for the remainder of the game, giving them the 71-58 victory.
McPherson had just 7-of-21 field goals find the bottom of the net in the game's final 20 minutes and missed each of their four three-point attempts; they were 11-of-18 from the foul stripe. Sterling took 11 more shots than the 'Dogs but made just two more for a 28.1 shooting percentage, 9-of-32; they went a mere 3-of-16 from deep but made eight of their 10 free throws.
The Bulldogs shot 34% for the night, counting 18-of-53 from the floor with only 3-of-12 going through from beyond the arc; they scored 19-of-29 from the stripe. 45 rebounds were tabulated by Mac, one more than SC, and 16 came off the offensive backboard. McPherson logged 17 turnovers, seven assists, two steals and one block in their loss.
Brian (BJ) Johnson (Kansas City, Kan.) scored 19 to lead MC on offense; he went 5-of-14 from the field and 9-of-14 from the foul line while grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds. Samson Shivers (Houston, Texas) made 3-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the stripe for his 11 points. The final Bulldog to garner double figures in scoring was Devirous Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) who had 10 on 3-of-7 shooting with four free throws; the forward was one rebound away from not only another double-double but from tying the McPherson College school record for most rebounds in a season. D. Johnson currently has 298 for the year and has six regular season games left to grab that one board; he also needs 14 to break the two-season record for most rebounds recorded.
Wichita, Kansas is the site and KCAC-leading Friends University is the opponent for McPherson's next competition; the 'Dogs will play the Falcons on February 6th with JV tipping off at 4:00 p.m. (CT) with varsity set to play at 8:00
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