Photo by Micah Gilbert
McPherson, Kan. – The McPherson College men's basketball teams' season came to an end on Saturday night with an 84-68 loss, at home on Senior Night, to the Bethel College Threshers.
The Bulldogs struggled out of the gate, turning the ball over on three straight possessions to start the game, and falling behind 6-0. They finally got the ship righted, and scored five unanswered points to get back in the game. At the 10:09 mark in the first half, the Bulldogs had their first lead of the game, 15-4. Two possessions later, the Threshers were back on top 17-15, but the Bulldogs went on a 5-0 run to retake the lead 20-17 with 8:15 remaining in the half. Unfortunately, that would be the last time the Bulldogs would lead in the game. The Threshers closed out the half on a 22-10 run to take a nine point lead, 39-30, into the intermission.
After the break, things went from bad to worse for the Bulldogs. The Threshers' nine point halftime lead quickly ballooned out to 15 points, just three minutes into the second frame. McPherson cut the lead back down to 10, with 16:04 remaining, but after seven empty possessions in a row by the Bulldogs, the Bethel lead was the largest of the game at 23, 60-37. At the 9:33 mark in the second half, with the Thresher lead still at 23 points, the Bulldogs began trying to foul the worst free throw shooters on the floor for Bethel. The strategy paid off in the short term, and the Bulldogs were able to trim the lead down to 14, with just under eight minutes left in regulation.
At the 5:04 mark, the Bulldogs had whittled the Bethel lead down to 11, 72-61, but that would be as close as they would get the rest of the way. The Threshers weathered the storm, and pushed the lead back out to 19, before the Bulldogs trimmed it back down to 16 as the final horn sounded.
Chamaje Barideaux (So. New Iberia, L.A.), finally broke out of his month long scoring slump, and led the Bulldogs with 20 points off the bench. Joining him in double figures was
Careino Gurley (Sr. Minneapolis, Minn.), who had a season high 18 points in his swan song as a Bulldog.
Taylor Ellison (Sr. Tulsa, Okla.), who was also playing his final game in a Bulldog uniform finished just outside of double figures with nine points.
With the loss, the Bulldogs wrap up their year at 10-19, and 6-18 in the KCAC. Just before the men tipped off, the Bulldogs honored Gurley, Ellison,
Louis Parker III, and
Justin Wiltfong, the four seniors in the program this year.
Looking ahead to 2019-20, the Bulldogs will be a very experienced group, as they have the possibility of returning 13 guys off of this year's team, to the lineup next season. They also have a number of talented shooters, who played on the JV team this season, a team that defeated the Bethel JV on a last second shot, to close out their season on a 10 game winning streak, and at 13-9 overall.
MC (68) – Barideaux (20), Gurley (18), Ellison (9), Watts (6), Magot (6), Rivers (5), Hightower (2), Owen (2).
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