Photo by Micah Gilbert
McPherson, Kan. – Bulldogs kept a choke hold on third place in the KCAC race by defeating the University of St. Mary Spires 105-93 at the Sport Center on Wednesday Night.
The Bulldogs are now 18-6 overall, and 13-5 in the conference, and gone 8-1 since the calendar flipped to the new year. It has been an amazing run for the Bulldog men, who are staring down a 20 win season for the first time since the 2011-12 season where they finished 33-4 and went to the national tournament.
The recipe for success against the Spires on Wednesday consistent shooting from behind the three point arc, and at the free throw line. From deep, the Bulldogs shot 51%, knocking down 14 of 27 attempts, and from the charity stripe they made 27 of 37 tries. The Spires also knocked down 14 long distance shots, but they only managed to make it to the free throw line 12 times in the game, making 6 of their attempts.
Both the Bulldogs and the Spires like to get out and run, pushing the pace and putting up a lot of shots. The opening half was close with five ties, and two lead changes. Neither team was able to distance itself and at the break, the Bulldogs had a slim two point lead, 49-47.
After the intermission, the Bulldogs began to methodically increase their lead over the Spires. After an alley oop dunk by Grant Munsen (Sr. Manhattan, Kan.) at the 12:38 mark, the lead reached double digits, 65-55. With 9:28 left to play the lead had ballooned out to 15, and it appeared as if the Bulldogs would run away with it. Down the stretch however, the Spires knocked down some big three pointers to keep themselves in range of the Bulldogs.
The largest lead of the game for the Bulldogs was 16, and came at the 3:35 mark. Again the Spires hit a few shots and the lead was trimmed down to 8 with a minute and a half left in regulation. Forced to foul, the Spires sent the Bulldogs to the line eight times in the final 1:25. The Bulldogs were clutch, making seven of eight and ended up winning by 12.
All ten Bulldogs who saw action against the Spires found their way into the scoring column. Six of those ten had a double digit performance, led by Kemryn Jenkins (Jr. Eminence, Ky.), who was 5 of 7 from behind the arc, and finished with 19 points. Myles McCrary (Fr. Arlington, Texas), was huge for the Bulldogs off the bench. He finished with a career high 11 points and seven rebounds in 12 minutes of action.
Bulldog head coach, T.J. Eskildsen, who has his guys playing an exciting brand of basketball, commented on Wednesdays' win saying, "I was really pleased with our unselfishness on the offensive end tonight. To have six guys in double digit scoring is great." He went on to add, "I hope we can continue to take steps to improve offensively while also being able to defend. Give St Mary credit they really shot the ball well but we need to be able to guard at a higher level. I was also very excited for Myles and the minutes he gave is tonight. He gave us a huge spark off the bench in the first half."
 Next up for the Bulldogs is a trip west on Saturday to take on the Sterling College Warriors. The Bulldogs and Warriors will square off at 7 p.m. in Sterling following the women's game at 5.
 MAC (105) – Jenkins (19), Hightower (16), Magot (15), Shelvin (12), Paige (12), McCrary (11), Watts (8), Maccoy (6), Rivers (4), Munsen (2).
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