Photo by Jakob Komel
McPherson, Kan. – The McPherson College men's basketball team saw their nine game win streak come to an end on Saturday as they fell at home to the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles 86-74.
Both teams came out of warmups on fire. The Bulldogs hit their first five shots and the Eagles were 4 of 6 in the first few minutes of the action. Six minutes in, the Bulldogs led the Eagles by 7, but in the span of two minutes, the Eagles flipped the script and took a one point lead. The Eagles hit a big three pointer at the 1st half buzzer to lead the Bulldogs 40-35 at the break.
In the second half, the Eagles shut down the Bulldogs from behind the arc while at the same time, hitting several key treys of their own at critical times. At the 13:53 mark, the Bulldogs trailed the Eagles by 11. The lead got as high as 13 points before the Bulldogs began chipping away at it.
The Bulldogs to within 5 points of the Eagles with around 5 minutes left in regulation, but the Eagles responded with a 7-0 run to push the lead back out to 12, where it would land when the clock showed zeros.
Key Statistic
The Bulldogs were 9 of 33 from beyond the arc, while the Eagles hit on 10 of 23 attempts.
By the Numbers
It was a tough shooting night for the Bulldogs, who finished the game shooting 35% from the floor, making 22 of 62 tries.
The Bulldogs who usually win the rebounding battle, were outrebounded by the Eagles 47 to 35.
MC won the turnover battle, committing 13 miscues while the visitors turned it over 14 times.
Bulldog Leaders
Points: Ja'Quan Chestnut (14)
Rebounds: Fred Watts (8)
Assists: Josh Rivers (5)
Steals: Gage Maccoy (3)
Blocks: Myles McCrary (2)
Coach Quote
"I thought our effort was still there tonight we just struggled to make shots. You have to give Oklahoma Wesleyan a lot of credit for that. They also got after us on the glass and that is not a recipe for success. This is a game that we need to learn from. I told our guys after the game that to win 9 straight conference games before tonight is not easy. We need to now bounce back from this loss and be ready to go at York on Thursday."
 Next Up
 With the loss, the Bulldogs are now 14-6 overall, and 12-6 in KCAC play. They will be back in action on Thursday in a road game at York College. Tip-off is slated for 8:00 pm.
