Sterling Tops Men's Basketball Despite Another Strong Effort By Crook

McPHERSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College men's basketball team fell to 6-5 overall and 1-4 in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) after an 88-78 loss to Sterling College on Saturday night at the Sport Center.

After a back-and-forth start to the game, Sterling used a 15-3 run over a span of nearly seven minutes to turn a one-point deficit (9-8) into an 11-point lead (23-12) with 9:01 to play. Josiah Ray was a force inside for the Warriors, scoring eight of his 15 first-half points during the stretch. The Bulldogs didn't help themselves, either, struggling to just 1-of-14 shooting from the field and missing seven 3-pointers. 

A Reed Rowell (Topeka, Kan., Butler CC) layup and a 3-pointer by Aaron Bachura (Wilsey, Kan., Council Grove HS) sliced the lead to six at 23-17, but Sterling scored seven of the next eight to run the lead to 12 points with just under six minutes remaining in the half. McPherson made a late charge, cutting the Warriors' advantage to just three with 3:25 left with an 11-2 run keyed by six points from DeAndre Henson (Aberdeen, Md., Cloud County CC).

The visitors rallied with seven of the last eight points in the half to take a 39-30 lead into the break.

Sterling's hot shooting continued into the second half as a 13-4 run over the first five minutes pushed the lead to 18. Trey Dubbert drained a pair of threes and Isaac Ostrosky added another, while McPherson connected on just two of nine shots from the field. The Bulldogs were not able to make an appreciable dent in the Warrior advantage for most of the half. Bachura scored five straight points near the midway point of the period, but he was matched by a pair of threes by Grant Speer.

McPherson made one final push behind the play of Chris Crook (Oklahoma City, Okla., Millwood HS). After Raybon Riden hit a putback shot to put Sterling up 72-55 with 6:48 to play, Crook scored nine straight points to cut the lead to eight. The lead hovered around 10 points the rest of the way, with the Warriors able to hold the Bulldogs off at the free throw line.

Sterling shot 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the field and hit 11 3-pointers in the game -- including seven in the second half -- but truly put the game away by converting 18 of 19 opportunities at the line in the second half. The Warriors were 23-of-27 at the charity stripe overall and held a slim 45-41 edge on the boards. McPherson was 36.5 percent (27-of-74) from the field, had eight 3-pointers and was 16-of-23 at the free-throw line.

Ray led the Warriors with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting. He was also 7-of-8 at the line, had six rebounds and blocked three shots. Dubbert added 16 points, three rebounds and four assists, while Riden had 12 points and four assists. Speer and Ostrosky posted nine points apiece, while Fayola Oyatayo hauled in a team-high eight rebounds.

In his first start of the season, Crook matched Ray with 27 points on 8-of-20 shooting from the field with four 3-pointers. He was a perfect 7-for-7 from the line, pulled down four rebounds and had four assists. Crook's monster effort left him six points shy of 1,000 for his career. He currently ranks 21st on McPherson's career scoring list, needing to leapfrog George Czaplinski (998 points) for 20th place before reaching the milestone figure.

Bachura added 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting with three treys. Careino Gurley (Minneapolis, Minn., Rochester CTC) and Thomas Butler (Key West, Fla., Vermilion CC) had 11 points apiece, with Gurley adding six rebounds and four assists and Butler tallying eight rebounds.

"I was proud of how we fought back," said head coach Tim Swartzendruber. "Sterling had a stretch at the beginning of the second half that we just didn't recover from. Every night we have to be ready to play."

The Bulldogs return to the court on Thursday with a trip to Hillsboro to face rival Tabor College (5-6, 4-1 KCAC) looking to end a three-game skid. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m.