Riverside, Calif. – It took an additional five minutes but the MC men's basketball team came out triumphant on Saturday 85-83 against La Sierra University in their second game of their west coast trip. Following their pair of wins, MC is now 6-11 overall.
After scoring the first basket of the night, the Bulldogs got down and stayed down by a minimal margin for most of the opening period. The largest lead by the Golden Eagles was nine points and they led at the break 40-33. McPherson shot the ball very well in the opening period, dropping in 13-of-26 from the floor with 5-of-10 from behind the arc; they also made 2-of-3 from the line. LSU somehow shot the ball better than MC with 17-of-31 field goals falling in; they made 4-of-9 threes and 2-of-4 foul shots.
In the second, McPherson continued to trail until a 10-0 run put them in front with less than five minutes gone by. It went back-and-forth for the rest of the period with neither team leading by more than a bucket. Following a pair of free throws by Chris Crook with less than 20 seconds to go, La Sierra drained a basket late to force OT. In overtime, Crook started the scoring with a quick three-point bucket but a pair of two pointers by the Eagles gave them a one-point lead with less than 30 to go. Crook buried another three-ball with just two seconds left to give the 'Dogs the 85-83 win. Mac dropped in 18-of-37 in the game's final 25 minutes with 9-of-14 threes; the team went a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. LSU went 18-of-42 but made just 1-of-4 three-point tries; they converted on just 6-of-11 from the line.
McPherson ended the night with a 49.2 shooting percentage as they made 31-of-63 from the field including an incredible 14-of-24 from deep; they made 9-of-10 free throws. The squad pulled in 34 rebounds along with 25 assists, 25 turnovers, five steals, and six blocks.
Crook scored a team-high 25 points on 7-of-15 field goals including 5-of-6 from the three-point line; he also made 6-of-7 from the free throw line and had five defensive rebounds as well. Aaron Bachura netted a career-high 23 points on 9-of-15 from the floor with 5-of-7 from deep. No other Bulldog hit double-digits in scoring but Kyle Lakin tallied eight assists to go along with his three points. Freshman Grant Raleigh scored eight points and had five assists as well.
It's a bit of a break for Mac as they are set to take on Baker University on January 2nd in McPherson; tipoff is set for 4:00 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
