Henson Tallies 27 as Late Rally Falls Short in 96-84 Loss at Saint Mary

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College men's basketball team closed the 2016 portion of its Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) schedule with a 96-84 loss to the University of Saint Mary Tuesday night at Ryan Sports Center.
 
DeAndre Henson (Aberdeen, Md., Cloud County CC) scored 19 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, keying a 29-9 run that allowed the Bulldogs (6-8, 1-7 KCAC) to cut a 29-point deficit to nine in just 6:32, but McPherson simply ran out of time.
 
The Spires (12-4, 4-4 KCAC) came out shooting in the first half, quickly building a 13-5 lead behind five points from Xavier Young and 3-pointers from Brett Marsh and Keiron Sauer.
 
Thomas Butler (Key West, Fla., Vermilion CC) hit a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to just one at 15-14 with 13:20 left in the first half, but the Spires responded with a 27-6 run over the next 8:09 to push the lead to 22 points with just 5:11 showing on the clock. The only McPherson points during the stretch came on a pair of free throws by Henson and layups by Aaron Bachura (Wilsey, Kan., Council Grove HS) and Butler. The Bulldogs were held without a point for nearly five minutes before Henson drained a three with 4:41 left to make it 42-23.
 
The teams traded baskets down the stretch. Chris Crook (Oklahoma City, Okla., Millwood HS) hit a three with six seconds left to cut the Saint Mary lead to 49-32 at the break.
 
The Spires continued to build the lead as the second half progressed with the biggest ground being gained on back-to-back threes by Reid Titus with 7:33 to play. After a Reed Rowell (Topeka, Kan., Butler CC) free throw, Titus added two free throws of his own to push the lead to 29 at 82-53 with just under seven minutes to play.
 
A jumper by Isaiah Codden with 5:14 remaining made it 85-58, but the Bulldogs fought back, rattling off 15 straight points over the next 3:40 to cut the deficit to 12 before Greenberg drained a pair of free throws to stop the run. A Henson 3-pointer brought it back within single digits at 91-82 with 24.7 seconds to play, but a steal and a layup by Young, in addition to a handful of free throws, were enough to keep the Bulldogs at bay.
 
The Spires had the hot shooting hand all night, finishing at 51.6 percent (33-of-64) from the field and 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from 3-point range. They also made 16 of 23 free throws.
 
The Bulldogs held a 45-36 advantage on the boards and had 10 steals, but shot connected at just a 40.8-percent clip (29-of-71) from the floor and were 7-of-28 from behind the arc. McPherson's recent resurgence at the free throw line continued, however, as the team hit 19 of 22 from the charity stripe.
 
Henson's game-high 27 points came on 9-of-15 shooting with four 3-pointers. He was also a perfect 5-for-5 at the free throw line and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Crook added 17 points, five assists and three steals, moving past Matt Richardson into 19th place on McPherson's all-time scoring list. Butler added 13 points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists off the bench and Bachura had 12 points.
 
Five Saints reached double figures in scoring, led by Codden with 16 on 7-of-11 shooting off the bench. Young finished with 13, while Greenberg – who entered the game leading NAIA Division II in scoring at over 29 points per game – was held to just 12. He did have team-highs with six rebounds and seven assists. Sauer added 11 points, Titus 10 and Marsh nine.
 
"Saint Mary shot the ball extremely well," remarked head coach Tim Swartzendruber. "I was proud of the way we fought hard at the end and made it a game. We just dug too deep of a hole and couldn't get out."
 
McPherson closes out its pre-holiday schedule Thursday with a trip to Lawrence, Kansas, to face Haskell Indian Nations University. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. The Bulldogs and Indians have met once already this season with McPherson winning 59-58 on Nov. 5 at the McPherson Classic.