Men's Basketball Can't Hold Early Lead, Falls to Friends

McPHERSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College men's basketball team sprinted out to an 18-point lead midway through the first half but couldn't hold on as visiting Friends University charged back for an 82-72 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) win Saturday night at the Sport Center.

After conceding the first points of the game on a Toby Baxter jumper, McPherson (6-7, 1-6 KCAC) went on a 35-15 run behind the hot shooting of Chris Crook (Oklahoma City, Okla., Millwood HS) to build the lead to 18 with 7:56 to play in the first half. Crook scored 17 points during the stretch on four 3-pointers, a traditional 3-point play and a pair of free throws. Reed Rowell (Topeka, Kan., Butler CC) added six points during the run.

Friends (7-6, 4-3 KCAC) soon found its groove, however, taking advantage of early foul trouble by the Bulldogs that put the Falcons in the double bonus before reaching the midway point of the half. The visitors rattled off five straight over the next 2:20 to begin to chip away at the lead before Crook ended the McPherson drought with a pair of free throws. The Bulldog lead continued to erode as an 10-2 run brought the lead back to single digits with 2:43 left in the period. The Falcons finished the half on an 11-4 run, scoring the final nine points to completely erase the deficit as Baxter hit a layup with five seconds remaining to send the teams in to the locker rooms for halftime tied at 43-43.

After his hot start, Crook finished the half with just 19 points. After making a pair of free throws with 9:47 to play, he was limited to just two more made free throws, a foul and two missed shots -- one from behind the arc. Baxter had 14 to lead Friends, while Kyler Steadman added 13 and Jordan Murdock nine.

The Falcons grabbed the lead on a Zach Osborn 3-pointer on the opening possession of the half and steadily built the lead to eight at 57-49 with just over 14 minutes left in the game before the Bulldogs were able to provide a response. McPherson went on a 13-5 run over the next three minutes to tie the game at 62-62 on a layup by Thomas Butler (Key West, Fla., Vermilion CC). Crook had eight of the 13 points during the rally with Butler book-ending it with layups.

The teams traded the lead back and forth with Butler tying the score at 74 with a pair of free throws at the 6:01 mark. Steadman and Grant Raleigh (Hesston, Kan., Hesston HS) traded 3-pointers to move the score to 77-77, but another Steadman triple with 3:43 left put the Falcons ahead for good. Friends scored the final seven points of the game, holding McPherson without a point over the final 2:00 and without a field goal for the last 2:39.

Friends shot 52.8 percent (28-of-53) from the field, 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from 3-point range and 80.0 percent (28-of-35) at the free-throw line, while McPherson shot 45.5 percent (25-of-55) overall, 28.6 percent (8-of-28) from behind the arc and 82.8 percent (24-of-29) at the charity stripe. Both teams pulled down 31 rebounds, but the Falcons had eight steals to the Bulldogs' one while forcing 13 total turnovers.

Murdock, Steadman and Baxter accounted for 80 of Friends' 92 points. Murdock finished with a game-high 31 points on 8-of-16 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers. He was also a perfect 13-of-13 at the line and pulled down five rebounds. Steadman followed with 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting. He had three 3-pointers, was 7-of-12 at the free throw line and tallied game-highs with seven rebounds and five assists and also had a pair of steals. Baxter chipped in with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists. 

Crook scored 29 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including five 3-pointers, and was 8-of-8 at the line. Butler added 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. He also had a team-high five rebounds. DeAndre Henson (Aberdeen, Md., Cloud County CC) and Ryan O'Hara (San Antonio, Texas, Cedar Valley CC) added eight points apiece, with Raleigh and Rowell posting six points each.

"There is a fine line between winning and losing," remarked head coach Tim Swartzendruber. "Right now, we aren't showing the toughness needed to win the close games. We show flashes of greatness but when things go bad, we don't respond the way we should. We will get better."

The Bulldogs close out the 2016 portion of their KCAC schedule Tuesday night with a trip to Leavenworth to face the University of Saint Mary (11-4, 3-4 KCAC). Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. at the Ryan Sports Center.