McPHERSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) ---
Louis Parker III (Midwest City, Okla., Midwest City HS) posted 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the McPherson College men's basketball team to a commanding 104-69 win over Haskell Indian Nations University in the final game of the opening day of the McPherson Classic at the Sport Center.
The Bulldogs (1-1) scored the first seven points of the game and didn't look back. The Indians (0-4) cut the lead to three points on a pair of Kalin Parsons free throws with 7:10 to play in the first half but would get no closer. McPherson responded with an 8-0 run to push the lead to double digits and led by 20 with under a minute to play in opening stanza before Tristan Keah-Tigh hit a basket in the paint to make it an 18-point game at the break.
Aaron Bachura (Wilsey, Kan., Council Grove HS) hit a 3-pointer on McPherson's opening possession of the second half to put the lead back over 20 points and the Bulldogs continued to pull away from there. McPherson reached the century mark on a put-back layup by Parker with 3:53 to play, then maxed out the lead at 40 points seconds later as
Zach Vogt (Hesston, Kan., Hesston HS) turned a steal into a fast-break layup. Both hoops were part of a late 9-0 McPherson run. Haskell scored seven straight points to cut the lead back to 33 as McPherson head coach
Tim Swartzendruber cleared his bench.
Chamaje Barideaux (New Iberia, La., New Iberia Senior HS) drained a floater with 17 seconds left to set the final margin.
Parker, who was 8-of-11 from the field, was one of four in double figures as 11 different Bulldogs cracked the scoring column.
Grant Raleigh (Hesston, Kan., Hesston HS) added 16 points, while Bachura and
Garrett Owen (Woodward, Okla., Woodward HS) added 14 points apiece. Bachura also had five assists and four rebounds, while Owen had six boards and a steal.
Three other McPherson players -
Careino Gurley (Minneapolis, Minn., Rochester CTC),
Frederick Watts (Houston, Texas, Channelview HS) and
Jeffrey Oxford (Claremore, Okla., Claremore HS) - finished with eight points apiece. Gurley and Watts each had nine rebounds, while Gurley matched Bachura with five assists.
The Bulldogs shot 42.1 percent (32-of-76) from the field, but just 23.1 percent (6-of-26) from behind the arc. They made up for it though with a solid night at the charity stripe where they hit 34 of 40 shots (85.0 percent) led by an 8-of-9 effort from Raleigh. McPherson also had a commanding 58-39 edge on the boards.
Haskell shot 31.3 percent (21-of-67) from the field, but were just 4-of-27 from 3-point range. Like McPherson, they also made up for some of their errant long-range shooting with a decent night at the free throw line where they were 23-of-31. Zach Bruns was 6-of-8 at the charity stripe en route to a team-high 12 points. He also had three steals and a pair of assists. Keith Moore and Keah-Tigh each added 10 points, while Nakia Hendricks had nine points, nine rebounds and two blocks.
"It was great to bounce back tonight," said Swartzendruber. "I thought our defense in the first half set the tone. We need to continue to improve on both ends of the floor."
The Indians face Bethel College (0-2) at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon in the early men's game at the Classic, while McPherson concludes the event with a 6 p.m. tip-off against Hastings (3-0). The Broncos edged the Threshers, 80-78, in Friday's first men's game.
