Winfield, Kan. – The McPherson College men's basketball team went on the road on Thursday, to take on the 8
th ranked Southwestern College Moundbuilders. The Bulldogs were coming off a tough loss at home on Monday to the Sterling College Warriors, in which they struggled scoring the ball.
Against Southwestern on Thursday, they ran into another buzz saw, this one in the form of Cameron Hunt, the NAIA's top scorer. On Monday, he scored 30 points, leading his team to an 86-81 win over Kansas Wesleyan, and in the process he became the all-time leading scorer at Southwestern. On Thursday, he followed up that performance by pouring in 40 points against the Bulldogs, and securing the win 114-69.
The Bulldogs fought hard, but it was too much Hunt and the Builders from the outset. The Builders scored the first 10 points of the game, before the Bulldogs got on the board, three minutes in. The Bulldogs cut the lead in half, scoring on back to back possessions, but then the Builders broke the half open, going on another 10-0 run to take a 20-5 lead at the 13:08 mark. The Bulldogs started to get their offense on track over the final thirteen minutes of the half, but the Builders kept gradually pulling away. By the end of the half, the Builder lead was 22, 55-33, with 20 of those points coming from Hunt.
The second half was more of the same. The Bulldogs held the Southwestern lead around the 22 point mark for the first three or four minutes of the half. At the 16:31 mark, the Builders broke the game open with an 11-0 run to expand the lead to 33 points, 76-43. They continued to pour it on, pushing the lead out to 40 with 5:42 to play, and when the final horn sounded, they held a 45 point advantage, 114-69.
The Bulldogs, who with the loss, fall to 9-14 overall and 5-13 in the KCAC, were led in scoring by
Lual Magot (Jr. Tucson, Ariz.), who had 20 points. He was joined in double figures by
Jeffrey Oxford (So. Claremore, Okla.), who came off the bench to add 12.
Taylor Ellison (Sr. Tulsa, Okla.) who was 4 of 4 from behind the three point arc in Monday's loss to Sterling, hit 3 of 5 three pointers against Southwestern and finished with 9 points.
"Southwestern was unbelievable tonight," said Bulldog head coach
Tim Swartzendruber. "They are a good team and tonight they were exceptional, especially Cameron Hunt who is one of the top players in the nation." This was a tough loss, but we need to move on and be ready at York, on Saturday."
After two tough losses, the Bulldogs will try and regroup on Saturday, as they head back out on the road to tangle with the York College Panthers. Tip-off is slated for 5:00 pm in York, Nebraska.
MC (69) – Magot (20), Oxford (12), Ellison (9), Hightower (6), Owen (6), Watts (4), Barideaux (4), Munsen (3), Rivers (3), Owens (2).
