Photo by Jakob Komel
McPherson, Kan. – The McPherson College men's basketball team squared off against the 4th ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles at the Sport Center on Saturday evening. The Eagles hit 13 three pointers on the way to a 94-77 victory over the Bulldogs.
Six and a half minutes into the opening half, the Bulldogs and Eagles were tied 12-12. At that point the flood gates opened and the Eagles went on a 9-0 run to take the lead 21-12. The Bulldogs pulled back to within four, 26-22 at the 10 minute mark, but the Eagles again responded with another run of six points to push the lead back out to double digits, 32-22.
The Bulldogs didn't recover from that run and over the course of the final 8:32 in the first half they led by as many as 18 points, and eventually settled for a 15 point lead at the break, 53-38.
After the intermission, the Bulldogs played even with the Eagles through the first six minutes of the second half, but were unable to cut into the Eagle lead. At the 14:09 mark, the Eagles hit another gear, and quickly the lead ballooned out to 22 points. The deficit would get as large as 27 points for the Bulldogs, but they closed out the game on a 10-0 run to cut the lead down to 17 as the clock hit zeros.
Key Statistic
Three point shooting has been the Achilles heel for the Bulldogs since Christmas break. Against the Eagles they finally had a good night from behind the arc, making 10 of 19 (52%). They problem was the Eagles made a few more, going 13 for 33 (39%).
By the Numbers
The Bulldogs had an efficient shooting night, making 29 of 60 attempts from the floor (48%).
From the charity stripe they shot 90%, making 9 of 10 attempts.
Three Bulldogs scored in double figures, led by Ja'Quan Chestnut, who finished with 16.
The Bulldogs lost the turnover battle 13-8, and were out-rebounded by the Eagles 38-28.
Bulldog Leaders
Points: Ja'Quan Chestnut (16)
Rebounds: Mychael Tripp (6)
Assists: Jason Okoro, Josh Rivers (5)
Steals: Five Bulldogs (1)
Blocks: Ja'Quan Chestnut, Josh Rivers (1)
Coaches Quote
"We played hard tonight. We just weren't able to get stops and finish defensive possessions with a rebound. They came out hitting ten 3's in the first half and that is tough to recover from. They are a top 5 team in the country for a reason. If we keep playing with the same effort good things will happen down the stretch for us. We now need to get ready to play another really good team in Ottawa on Wednesday. I'm excited to see what our response will be."  – Coach Eskildsen
Next Up
The loss drops the Bulldogs to 16-10 overall, and 11-9 in conference games. They will head to Ottawa on Wednesday for an 8:00 pm match-up with the Braves.
