McPherson, Kan. – The Bulldog basketball squad fell 82-73 to Southwestern College on Thursday night, moving the team to 6-13 on the year and 2-5 in the conference.
"We had a bad first stretch of second half," said McPherson Coach Tim Swartzendruber. "We did a great job battling to the end, but we dug a huge hole in those first five minutes. Rebounding was also huge. Southwestern owned us on the glass."
It was a back-and-forth first few minutes but then a 7-0 swing put the Moundbuilders up for the rest of the half; their lead peaked at nine but never reached double figures. The Bulldogs kept things close for most of the half and trailed 37-32 at the break. Mac knocked down 12-of-26 field goals including 6-of-13 from deep. SWC also shot the ball well as they saw 13-of-27 tries fall in with 6-of-12 coming from beyond the arc.
In the second half, the Builders came out strong and quickly pushed their lead to 19. McPherson pushed back and eventually got their deficit back to single-digits; the team trailed eight with just over nine minutes to play. After trading buckets, MC closed the gap to six with 3:30 remaining. A put-back and-1 by Southwestern turned the momentum late and, after hitting 5-of-6 free throws, the Moundbuilders were able to close out the game, winning 82-73. The 'Dogs went 15-of-35 from the floor and 4-of-12 from range; they did knock in a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. SWC scored on 12-of-28 with three coming from distance; they did a nice job at the line as 18-of-21 foul shots dropped through.
Mac ended the game making 27-of-61 from the field and dropped 10-of-25 threes; they converted on 9-of-11 free throws in the loss. A low number of rebounds, 28, were recorded by the Bulldogs with nine coming off the offensive glass. The team had 15 assists, eight turnovers, five steals, and four blocks. 31 points were scored in the paint, 29 came from bench players, and 18 were second chance points.
TJ Grant scored a team-high 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting with 2-of-6 threes going in along with his lone free throw attempt; he also netted a team-high six assists and had five boards. One-point behind was Darius Hill who made 7-of-14 field goals and 2-of-4 foul shots for his 16; he logged a team-high eight rebounds while playing in a team leading 36+ minutes. Latron Jolly scored 12 points for Mac; he cashed in on 2-of-3 from deep, 1-1 from two, and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Both Chris Crook and DeAndre Henson scored 11 points; they each made three from downtown, Crook also hit a two pointer while Henson connected on both his free throws.
McPherson will make a trip to 8-10, 5-2 Friends University on January 17th for the next competition; JV starts at 3:00 p.m. (CT) and varsity is scheduled for 7:00.
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McPherson College is a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference member school and a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
