Wichita, Kan. – It was another near-win for the men's basketball team at McPherson College. A last-second buzzer beater fell just short as the Bulldogs lost 68-66 to Friends University. Mac is now 6-14 on the year and 2-6 against conference opponents.
"It was a great game," said Coach Swartzendruber. Unfortunately we didn't make the last shot. We controlled the glass and limited turnovers. We didn't shoot well against their zone."
The first few minutes of Saturday's contest were controlled by MC but the Falcons took the second five; from the 11:23 mark until nearly 7:30 remained, both teams failed to score. Friends did a solid job of scoring in the final minutes and took a 32-28 lead into the break. McPherson connected on 12-of-32 in the opening period; they were 3-of-13 from deep and 1-of-3 from the foul line. FU shot the ball very well as they saw 13-of-24 field goals go down including 3-of-8 from range.
McPherson once again controlled the start of the half and quickly regained the lead; they increased their advantage to five with five minutes gone by. There were a plethora of foul calls in the opening minutes of the period and both teams were in bonus by the midway point of the half. Mac was up a handful with less than three minutes remaining but a 12-3 run by the Falcons put Friends ahead three with 41 seconds to go. A three-ball by DeAndre Henson tied it up with 22.6 seconds remaining.
After FU knocked in a couple foul shots, the Bulldogs had one last chance to send the game into overtime or end the game. With 6.4 seconds remaining, McPherson's TJ Grant tried a three from the top of the key but it fell short and the put-back wouldn't drop, giving Friends the 68-66 victory. MC went 13-of-29 in the second with 5-of-15 threes finding the bottom of the net; they were 7-of-10 from the charity stripe. The Falcons shot in 10-of-23 from the field, 5-of-16 from distance, and 11-of-18 from the foul line.
The Bulldogs ended the night making 25-of-61 field goals, 41%, and saw 8-of-28 threes go down; they went just 8-of-13 from the line. The team pulled in 33 rebounds with 11 coming off the offensive glass; they also netted 13 assists, 11 turnovers, and four steals. 22 of the team's points came in the paint and 16 were from bench players.
Darius Hill scored a team-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting with 3-of-5 free throws falling in; he had nine rebounds to lead the way. Grant scored on just 3-of-13 field goals but was 5-of-6 from the stripe for his 12 points; the senior also had a team-high five assists. Chris Crook scored his number, 11, for Mac as he dropped in 4-of-6 from the floor with three coming from deep. Henson was the final player to hit double figures as he added in 10 points.
McPherson will travel to the University of Saint Mary on Wednesday, January 21 for their next competition; start time is set for 8:00 p.m. (CT)
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McPherson College is a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference member school and a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
