McPHERSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) -- The McPherson College men's basketball team picked up its first Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) victory of the season Tuesday evening with an 81-73 win over Oklahoma Wesleyan University at the Sport Center.
After two close losses to begin the 2016-2017 KCAC campaign, the Bulldogs (5-2, 1-2 KCAC) shot 54.8 percent from the field (17-of-31) in the second half to build upon a one-point halftime lead.
McPherson led by six with 6:31 to play in the first half after
Chris Crook (Oklahoma City, Okla., Millwood HS) drained a pair of free throws, but the Bulldogs could not keep Oklahoma Wesleyan from a late rally. Breiman Alexander hit a 3-pointer to tie the score at 29-29 with 4:06 remaining and the teams traded the lead back and forth down the stretch of the first half. Crook hit two more free throws with just three seconds remaining to send the Bulldogs into the locker room with a 38-37 halftime lead.
The Eagles (4-5, 2-1 KCAC) scored the first four points of the second half as Anietie Jack make a pair of layups, but
Aaron Bachura (Wilsey, Kan., Council Grove HS) drained a three to knot the score at 41-41. OKWU retook the lead on the next trip down the floor as Jack made another layup but
DeAndre Henson (Aberdeen, Md., Cloud County CC) answered with a three of his own to give the Bulldogs a lead they would not relinquish.
Henson's triple sent McPherson on a 23-11 run that pushed the lead to double-digits as the second half passed its midway point. The Bulldogs eventually pushed the lead to 12 only to see the Eagles slice the deficit to five with 4:03 to play with a 9-2 run. The OKWU rally could not be sustained and McPherson used a 9-2 run of its own – mainly on free throws – to send the lead back to 12 as the clock ticked under 1:00 to play. Oklahoma Wesleyan scored the final four points of the game to set the final margin at eight points.
Crook scored a team-high 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers. He also made six of nine attempts at the charity stripe and pulled down four rebounds. Henson added 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting and drained three 3-pointers and
Thomas Butler (Key West, Fla., Vermilion CC) had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Reed Rowell (Topeka, Kan., Butler CC) had nine points and four rebounds off the bench, while Bachura and
Grant Raleigh (Hesston, Kan., Hesston HS) added eight points each.
Jack finished with a game-high 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting for Oklahoma Wesleyan. He also blocked three shots and pulled down six rebounds. Alexander added 17 points on 7-of-20 shooting with five rebounds and two assists. Michael Davis, Derrick Bowers and Jacob Feickert had seven points apiece.
"I am proud of our guys," said head coach
Tim Swartzendruber. We had lost two close games but kept our poise against a good Oklahoma Wesleyan team. Each night, our conference games are going to be hard-fought. It's great to come out on top."
The Bulldogs return to the court this weekend at the Hastings College Thanksgiving Classic. McPherson faces host Hastings at 7 p.m. Friday night before playing Doane at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Live video and statistics can be found at
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/hastings.
