McPherson, Kan – Following their second consecutive win over Southwestern College in 2025, the Bulldogs faced the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes for their first home KCAC matchup. Kansas Wesleyan suffered their first conference matchup to Ottawa University in overtime the previous Saturday for their fourth loss of their 2025 campaign.
The Basics
Location: Holman Fieldhouse
Records: MC 4-3 (1-1 KCAC), KWU 3-4 (1-1 KCAC)
Score: MC 73, KWU 75
How it Happened
The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead following Charles Snyder’s triple to open up the scoring, but the Coyotes would hold the lead for the majority of the first half. Kansas Wesleyan rallied together a great rate from the field, shooting 56% from the floor while the Bulldogs trailed behind with a 42% conversion rate. Offensively, the Coyotes would be led by Wyatt Powell as he put up 13 points in the half. McPherson’s Tarrance Austin held a slight majority of the Bulldogs’ points with 10 in the first half, followed closely behind by KJ Marshall’s hard-earned nine points. Facing a 12-point deficit with 3:53 left to play in the half, the Bulldogs rallied to close the margin with seconds ticking away in the half as Korbin Gunn’s three-point play got McPherson to within two possessions of the Coyotes. Braylin Goins’ layup just before the halftime horn gave Kansas Wesleyan the 43-35 lead heading into the halftime break.
McPherson quickly put together a nine-point run to start off the second half, with Joseph Gonzales’ triple giving the Bulldogs the lead for the first time since early in the first half at 44-43. From then on, the two sides would exchange the lead three times before Kansas Wesleyan took a four-point lead at the 15:04 mark following Powell’s layup for the 54-50 lead. Gonzales and Gunn would find two close-range shots to knot the game back at 54-54 with 12:45 left to play.
The Bulldogs got the lead back following another hard-earned layup from Gunn, which was followed quickly behind by a monstrous block from Labron Wilson at the 11:40 mark. He would convert on the other end to extend McPherson’s lead to 58-54. By this point, the Kansas Wesleyan shooting percentage had dropped to 46% for the game while McPherson’s slowly grew to 46%.
Despite McPherson’s better shooting in the second half, the Coyotes put together a run of their own and took the lead at the 5:28 mark following Caiden Punt’s triple for the 66-63 advantage. It was a tough trip back to the lead, but the Bulldogs got back into driver’s seat after Dash Johnson hurled up a clutch three-point attempt that rattled home, giving McPherson the 71-70 lead with 1:26 to go in the game. Kansas Wesleyan’s Evens Appolon came up big with a layup with 45 seconds ticking off the clock, which was then followed by a turnover from the Bulldogs resulting in another layup for the Coyotes. With the score at 74-71, Charles Snyder made use of Austin’s second-chance rebound to cut the lead to 74-73 with a close-range jumper, but the deficit still stared down McPherson and they would be forced to foul Brandon Avedon for a trip to the line with five seconds remaining.
Avedon missed his first and drilled his second, spreading the lead to 75-73. In a last-chance effort, Korbin Gunn drove down the court to force a short-range shot, but would miss at the buzzer and Kansas Wesleyan would escape with their first KCAC victory of the year.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will be on the road this upcoming Saturday to take on the Ottawa University Braves on November 22nd at 3:00 PM.
