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McPherson, Kan. – The McPherson College men's basketball team will head down to Wichita, Kansas to take on Friends University this Saturday. Tipoff for the junior varsity is slated for 3:00 p.m. (CT) with the varsity getting underway at 7:00.
Mac heads into the contest fresh off a tough nine-point loss to Southwestern College in the Sport Center this past Thursday. The 'Dogs held the early advantage but a 7-0 run by the Builders put them in front for the rest of the contest. McPherson trailed 37-32 at the break. The Bulldogs hit on 12-of-26 in the opening period and saw 6-of-13 threes fall through. SWC connected on 13-of-27 with 6-of-12 going in from long range.
The first minutes of the second half were controlled by Southwestern as they increased their lead to 19. The 'Dogs fought back and got the score margin to six with 3:30 left on the clock. Following a three-point play, SWC got the momentum back which they rode to the 82-73 win. McPherson counted 15-of-35 field goals with 4-of-12 going in from distance. The Builders went 12-of-28 with three coming from behind the arc; 18 of their 21 free throws found the bottom of the net.
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.
Ranked Bulldogs: Darius Hill is eighth in total rebounds, 169, 15th in rebounds per game, 8.9, and 23rd in offensive boards a night, 3.1. TJ Grant ranks 17th in total assists at 90.
Mac will hit the road on January 21st for their next contest. The special Wednesday night game is set for 8:00 p.m. (CT) in Leavenworth, Kansas versus the University of Saint Mary.
Scouting Friends
The Falcons are 8-10 on the year and 5-2 in the KCAC, putting them tied for second in the conference. After the team won their first game of the season, 63-53 to York College, they lost eight-straight heading into league play. Since December, Friends has gone 7-2 and will head into Saturday's contest coming off an 81-69 win over the University of Saint Mary.
FU scored 11 of the first 13 points and held a commanding lead from the beginning. USM pushed back but an 8-0 run by the Falcons increased their advantage to double figures by the midway point of the half. The Spires kept it within a couple of handfuls and eventually took the lead following an 11-0 run with two minutes to play in the opening period. The teams went into the break all square at 42. Friends scored on 17-of-32 field goals with 5-of-12 coming from distance while Saint Mary went 50% from the floor (15-of-30) and made 7-of-12 three balls.
In the second, the Falcons held a slim advantage for the first 10 minutes; they were able to increase it to 13 on a 14-2 run. USM tried to come back but eventually fell 81-69. 9-of-26 field goals for Friends were counted as were 18-of-26 free throws. Saint Mary cashed in on just 9-of-40 field goals and missed all 12 three-point tries.
Friends ended the game with a 44.8 field goal percentage as 26-of-58 shot attempts fell; they went 8-of-22 from behind the arc and 21-of-31 from the charity stripe. The team netted 43 rebounds with just five coming off the offensive glass. They also tabbed 17 turnovers, 11 assists, eight steals, and four blocks. 34 of the team's total came in the paint and 21 were scored from bench players.
Toby Baxter put in a team-high 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor and 7-of-10 from the line; he also had a team-high three assists. Brett Williams dropped in 4-of-9 field goals and 9-of-13 free throws for his 19 points; he recorded a team leading three steals. Chris Singhateh went 6-of-11 for the game including two from deep for 14 points. Brandon Johnson added 10 points to the effort. Lawrence Anderson scored just seven points but had a team-high eight rebounds and four blocks.
This year the Falcons are scoring 68.4 points per game and see 41.9 percent of their shots fall through; they are 33.3 percent from range and connect on 67.6% from the foul stripe. They haul in 35.4 rebounds a night to go along with their 15.6 turnovers, 13.1 assists, 6.7 steals, and 3.3 blocks.
Baxter leads the team in scoring on the year with his 15.4 points per contest; he has made a team-high 88 field goals and 74 free throws. Johnson is next on the list at 11.5 points a night; he is the squad's top three-point man with his 38 makes on the year. Williams buckets 11.2 per game and, along with his 26 three pointers, has recorded 64 assists. Singhateh is the final Friends player to make it over 10 on a regular basis; he has started just five games on the year but on average is playing in over half of each contest.
Bethel College will be the next opponents for Friends; that game is on January 21st in North Newton.
