McPHERSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) ---
Aaron Bachura (Wilsey, Kan., Council Grove HS) and
Louis Parker III (Midwest City, Okla., Midwest City HS) shared team-high honors with 17 points apiece, but the McPherson College men's basketball team could not keep pace with eight-ranked Southwestern College in a 92-70 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) loss Wednesday night at the Sport Center.
The Bulldogs (1-8, 0-4 KCAC) jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead after just three minutes, but the Moundbuilders (10-0, 4-0 KCAC) responded with a 17-0 run over the next six minutes to take a 19-9 lead. A
Grant Munsen (Manhattan, Kan., Manhattan HS) layup at the 11:05 mark ended a drought that saw McPherson miss five straight shots from the field and commit a total of seven turnovers.
McPherson rallied with an 11-4 stretch to cut the Southwestern advantage to just three points on a Bachura 3-pointer with 8:39 remaining, but the Builders finished the half with 20 of the last 25 points to take a 43-25 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Southwestern lead grew to 26 as the second half passed its midway point. The Bulldogs had one final rally using a 16-7 run capped by a
Parkes Wolters (Osborne, Kan., Osborne HS) basket to cut the deficit to 17 with 5:22 left in the game. Sparked by a Cameron Hunt 3-pointer, the Builders scored 15 of the next 20 to take their biggest lead of 27 points with just over two minutes to play. McPherson finished the game on a 7-2 run to set the final margin of victory at 22 points.
The Builders shot nearly 50 percent (35-of-71) from the field, were 13-of-26 from 3-point range and connected on nine of 10 free throw attempts. The Bulldogs had one of their better shooting nights this season, hitting 41.4 percent (29-of-70) from the field and drained seven of 25 attempts from behind the arc.
Southwestern also had a slight 39-35 advantage over McPherson on the boards and committed just 13 turnovers to the Bulldogs' 17.
Bachura was 7-of-16 from the field and 3-of-8 from behind the arc, while Parker was 6-of-13 off the bench to lead the Bulldogs.
Grant Raleigh (Hesston, Kan., Hesston HS) added 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
Garrett Owen (Woodward, Okla., Woodward HS) added seven points and Munsen set a new program single-game record with eight blocked shots. The Bulldogs had 10 blocked shots overall.
Hunt led all scorers with 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting. He also had four 3-pointers, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Kyrece Mills added 16 points and eight rebounds, while Andrew Hamm matched Mills with 16 points. DJ Wallace had 10 points and six assists and Brent Smith had six points and a game-high eight rebounds.
"Southwestern is very good," said head coach
Tim Swartzendruber. "They play well together. We had a great start, but we couldn't get things turned around once we started missing a few shots. We are better than we played tonight."
The Bulldogs will look to break into the win column in league play Saturday evening with a trip to Sterling College (2-7, 0-4 KCAC). The Warriors were 21-of-38 from 3-point range in a 90-87 loss at Oklahoma Wesleyan University Wednesday night in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Tipoff from the Gleason Physical Education Center is slated for 7 p.m.
