Bulldogs Beat Manhattan Christian to Jump start Season
By Alex Burger
The McPherson Men’s Basketball team finally got to hit the hardwood for their first game against the Manhattan Christian College Thunder. This came after the Bulldogs’ original season opener was postponed and their last home opener was canceled. To say the Bulldogs were looking forward to playing a new opponent, that wasn’t themselves in practice, would be an understatement. They showed that when they beat a well-coached Thunder team by double digits 87-75.
The first half seemed to be fairly even as the Bulldogs and Thunder battled back and forth. Midway through the first half, the Bulldogs led 16-13. In large part of their three-point shooting, the Bulldogs were able to hit seven three-pointers in the first half to give themselves a 47-37 lead at halftime.
In the second half, the Bulldogs lead by as much as 17. Five minutes into the half the score was 60-43. Due to several Bulldog turnovers, the Thunder came storming back. The Bulldogs saw their lead trim down to as low as five at the 6:24 mark remaining in the game. After that, the Bulldogs seemed to make everything start to click. The next two possessions resulted in a layup by Fred Watts, and a three-pointer by Travon Shelvon boosting their lead back up to ten. From there, the Bulldogs maintained possession of the ball and hit a couple more key shots to close out the thunder with a final score of 87-75. The Bulldogs played stellar as a team but had a lot of help from their big three. Travon Shelvon scored 20 points off 5 three-pointers and some free throws, Kemryn Jenkins scored 19 off of a balanced 8 for 15 from the field, and Fred Watts finished with a double-double consisting of 18 points and 14 rebounds.
