TRUILLO ALTO, P.R. ---
Jeffrey Oxford (Claremore, Okla., Claremore HS) and
Louis Parker III (Midwest City, Okla., Midwest City HS) each scored a team-high 13 points off the bench as the McPherson College men's basketball team defeated Universidad del Sagrado Corazon, 65-52, to open the Bulldogs' run at the Puerto Rico Clasico Sunday afternoon at Coliseo Ruben Zayas Montanez.
The win snapped a 12-game losing streak for the Bulldogs (2-13).
Los Delfines opened the game with a 7-0 run but McPherson finally got on the board 4:36 in when
Frederick Watts (Houston, Texas, Channelview HS) drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Oxford followed with back-to-back baskets to tie the game at 7-7 as the clock ticked under 14:00 to play in the first half.
USC took an 11-10 lead with baskets by Pedro Villaman and Kevin Rodriguez sandwiched around an Oxford 3-pointer. Parker drained a free throw to draw the Bulldogs even again at 11-11, kicking off a 12-1 run that pushed the McPherson lead to 11 with 5:22 play. The Bulldogs scored six of the final 11 points in the half to lead 29-17 at the break.
Sagrado chipped away at the lead early in the second half, cutting the deficit to nine at the 12:25 mark on a 3-pointer by Rodriguez. McPherson responded with 13 straight points to build its biggest lead of the game at 22 points before Rychel Janga ended the run with a basket at the 7:11 mark. The Bulldog run was powered by four free throws by
Grant Raleigh (Hesston, Kan., Hesston HS) and five points from
Justin Wiltfong (Stockton, Kan., Stockton HS), including a 3-pointer that took a high bounce off the rim - well above the backboard - before dropping straight through the net.
After a basket by
Garrett Owen (Woodward, Okla., Woodward HS) at the 4:02 mark made it 61-43, USC rattled off six straight points to trim the deficit to 12. McPherson scored four of the final seven points to set the final margin at 13 points.
Neither team was particularly sharp from the field in the first half as McPherson was just 10-of-33 overall and 2-of-11 from 3-point range and Sagrado was 7-of-25 and 1-of-9 from long distance. The difference early on came at the free throw line where the Bulldogs were 7-of-8. Los Delfines were just 2-of-9.
The shooting improved in the second half for both teams. McPherson lifted its game average to 36.5 percent with a 13-of-30 effort. Sagrado was even better at 12-of-26 to finish at 37.3 percent overall. At the line, the Bulldogs were a perfect 8-for-8, while Los Delfines were 8-of-11.
McPherson also held a 26-18 advantage on the boards in the opening 20 minutes, a margin that Sagrado could not erase in the second half as the Bulldogs finished with a 42-35 edge overall.
Oxford reached his baker's dozen with a 4-of-6 effort from the field including a 3-pointer and a perfect 4-for-4 day at the line. He also had three rebounds and a pair of assists in 17 minutes. Parker was 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 at the line with team-highs in boards (7) and steals (3).
Raleigh added 12 points, five rebounds and a pair of assists, while Watts had nine points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Luis Rivera scored a game-high 14 points for Los Delfines, while Villaman added 13 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
Janga and Luis Perez each had eight points.
"It feels great to get a win," said head coach
Tim Swartzendruber. "Our defensive effort was super the entire game. I'm extremely proud of our team. We have had some tough losses recently and today we refused to lose. Hopefully, it is the start of a streak."
McPherson will look for a second straight victory Monday evening against the University of Puerto Rico at Carolina. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. AST (5 p.m. CST) from Coliseo Ruben Zayas Montanez in Trujillo Alto.
