Bulldog Men Win on Barideaux's Buzzer Beater

Drew Brunecz
 
In a game that stayed true to the intensity of conference games, Charmaje Barideaux (So. New Iberia, La.), hit a game-winning layup as time expired to beat Kansas Wesleyan 79-77.
 
McPherson didn't lead in the first half at all. Due to turnovers, the Bulldogs found themselves down the whole first half, trailing by 12 at halftime, 45-33. But, like they have shown all season, there is no quit in this team.
 
At one point in the second half, the Bulldogs went on a 12-1 run to cut the lead down to three. With only three minutes remaining, KWU had pushed the lead back out to five points, but McPherson just would not back down. They fought all the way back, tying the game at 71, with 2:16 remaining in the game.
 
With six seconds left in the game, Marquis Kraemer of KWU missed a shot that would have given them the lead. The rebound was grabbed by Frederick Watts (So. Houston, Texas), who quickly found point guard, Dorian Page (Jr. Tucson, Arizona), who then looked up and saw  Barideaux, running down the floor, out in front of the Coyotes. Barideaux then won the game for the Bulldogs by making a layup as time expired.
 
This game was an excellent display of the Bulldogs resilience and fight, capped off by a win in exhilarating fashion.
 
Lual Magot (Jr. Tucson, Arizona) was brilliant coming off the bench tonight, leading the Bulldogs in both scoring (17), and rebounds (7), and was a co-leader in assists with three. This was a career game for Magot, as he helped will his team to a victory.
 
It was an effective shooting night for the Bulldogs, as they shot 50% from the floor and 22% from three. But they capitalized most on free throws, shooting over 80% from the line.
 
"I can't say enough about how proud I am of this team," said Bulldog head coach Tim Swartzendruber. "We never gave up. We made huge free throws down the stretch and got the key stop at the end. We need to keep this momentum going into Thursday."
 
The Bulldogs will attempt to use this momentum to get another win when they travel to play the Sterling College Warriors on Thursday, November 29th at 8:00 PM.
 
MC (79) -  Magot (17), Watts (13), Page (11), Barideaux (10), Oxford (9), Owens (8), Gurley (6), Hightower (3), Munsen (2).