McPHERSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College men's basketball team slipped to 1-3 overall with a 56-53 loss to crosstown rival Central Christian College in front of a raucous crowd Wednesday night at the Sport Center.
A couple of
Aaron Bachura (Wilsey, Kan., Council Grove HS) free throws had give the Bulldogs a 49-43 lead with 5:29 to play, but the Tigers (3-0) finished the game on a 13-4 run take the nonconference victory. Jubril Osagie tallied seven of Central's points during the stretch, while the other six were scored by Cam Martin. McPherson was limited to baskets by
Grant Raleigh (Hesston, Kan., Hesston HS) and
Careino Gurley (Minneapolis, Minn., Rochester CTC).
The Bulldogs led the majority of the first half as both teams struggled to find a rhythm. A basket by
Brandon Carter (San Antonio, Texas, Athlos Leadership Academy) with 10:31 to play in the half gave McPherson a 15-7 lead. Steve Kuminga scored 30 seconds later to end a scoreless drought of more than four minutes. Fouled by
Louis Parker III (Midwest City, Okla., Midwest City HS) on the play, Kuminga hit the and-one free throw to make it a five point game. McPherson built the lead back to eight at 21-13 on a Raleigh layup with 6:58 to play, but Central Christian would battle back over the final seven minutes of the half. The Tigers outscored the Bulldogs, 14-5, down the stretch, finally retaking the lead with a TJ Williams 3-pointer with 21 seconds left.
Central Christian was able to extend the lead to five early in the second half, but McPherson countered with a 9-2 run capped by 3-pointers from
Frederick Watts (Houston, Texas, Channelview HS) and
Garrett Owen (Woodward, Okla., Woodward HS) to take a 39-37 lead with under 12 minutes to play. A Williams putback of a Demetrick Jordan miss tied the game a little over a minute later, but McPherson scored eight of the next 10 as a floater by
Jeffrey Oxford (Claremore, Okla., Claremore HS) gave the Bulldogs a six-point lead at 47-41. Martin and Bachura each drained a pair of free throws to move the score to 49-43, setting up the final few possessions.
Osagie scored on the Tigers' next time down the court. Then, after the teams traded turnovers and a 3-point attempt by Bachura failed to hit the mark, Osagie hit from downtown to make it a one-point game. Raleigh extended the Bulldog advantage to three with a basket only to see Martin drain a 3-pointer to tie the game at 51-51. Baskets by Osagie and Martin followed to make it a four-point game before Gurley scored on a layup with 37 seconds left to cut the Central lead to 55-53. Martin hit the front end of a one-and-one with 1.7 seconds left, but missed the second. Raleigh picked up the carom and the Bulldogs immediately called timeout. Out of the timeout, Bachura was unable to get a handle on the Raleigh's in-bounds pass and the ball was tipped away as time expired.
McPherson (22-of-48; 45.8 percent) out-shot Central Christian (20-of-51; 39.2 percent) overall and held a 36-29 advantage on the boards, but committed 17 turnovers and made just three of 15 3-pointers. The Bulldogs were also just 6-of-12 at the free throw line, while the Tigers hit on 10 of 15 chances at the charity stripe.
Watts posted a double-double to lead the Bulldogs, finishing with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting and 10 rebounds - including six on the offensive glass. Raleigh added 10 points, while Gurley had nine points and six rebounds. Owen tallied just three points, but had eight rebounds, four steals and three assists from his point guard position. Bachura added eight points and three assists, while Parker had six points and four boards off the bench.
Martin scored 16 points behind a 6-of-7 performance at the line to lead all players, while Osagie added 13 points and seven boards. Williams scored eight points off the bench, while Kuminga and Michael Aranda scored five points apiece.
"Our effort was great," said head coach
Tim Swartzendruber. "Unfortunately, we didn't make plays down the stretch. We felt going in that rebounding would be a key and we did a great job on the glass. We had been great at the free-throw line coming in, but tonight, we weren't. You need to make those to win close games. Our crowd was amazing. A big shout-out to our students. They were great."
The Bulldogs return to the court next Wednesday (Nov. 15) when they open up Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference play against Oklahoma Wesleyan University. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. from the Sport Center.
