McPherson, Kan. – MC had a couple of rough stretches that loomed large on Thursday night against the Friends University Falcons. The Bulldogs made a run down the stretch, scoring 21 of the final 28 points, but fell short 78-64. McPherson is now 9-20 overall and 5-12 in the KCAC.
"We struggled all night versus their zone," said Coach Swartzendruber. "Friends did a great job of executing offensively and we didn't get stops. They were better than us tonight."
For the second-straight game, McPherson had a solid start, getting ahead by five early on; the Falcons then went on an 11-2 run to take the lead which they held for the rest of the half. Mac kept things within a couple buckets for the next few minutes but another run by Friends heading into the break gave the Falcons a 38-23 advantage. The Bulldogs dropped in 9-of-29 field goals and connected on just 1-of-10 from behind the arc while FU scored on 45% from the floor (9-of-20) including 5-of-11 from deep; the Falcons hit on 15-of-16 free throws, MC went 4-fo-7.
Friends went red-hot to start the second half, missing just one shot in the first eight minutes; by the 12-minute mark, FU led by 22. McPherson struggled to keep pace with the Falcons and saw themselves down by 28 with just over seven to play. The 'Dogs came on strong in the final few minutes but could not overcome their deficit, losing 78-64. MC went 12-of-22 in the final 20 minutes with 4-of-9 threes dropping; they were 13-of-16 from the line. The Falcons scored on an amazing 15-of-23 with 60% of their 10 three-point tries finding the bottom of the net.
The Bulldogs finished the game with a 41.2 shooting percentage; they were 21-of-51 from the floor and 5-of-19 from range. The team made 17-of-23 free throws. There weren't many rebounds to be had, Mac totaled 26 with nine coming off the offensive glass. They also netted 14 assists, 12 turnovers, eight steals and a block. 42 points came in the paint for McPherson and 25 of their total was scored from bench players.
TJ Grant racked up 17 points on 4-of-8 field goals and a perfect 7-of-7 free throws; he also had a team-high six rebounds and five assists. Darius Hill was the only other player to hit double-digits scoring with his 10 points; he had four boards. Aaron Bachura entered the game from the bench and made 3-of-3 from downtown for nine points while Derek Bevan and DeAndre Henson each added eight to the cause.
The 'Dogs close out the regular season at home on Saturday the 21st with a 5:00 p.m. (CT) contest with the University of Saint Mary Spires. It is Senior Night and Red Out Night for MC; the team is graduating four seniors.
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McPherson College is a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference member school and a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
