Winfield, Kan. (MacBulldogs.com) — The third-seeded Southwestern College Moundbuilders shot 53.7 percent from the field and 53.6 percent from three-point range to take down the McPherson College Bulldogs 93-79 Thursday night (Feb. 29) in the quarterfinal round of the KCAC Tournament inside Stewart Fieldhouse in Winfield, Kan.
With the loss, the Bulldogs season will come to an end with an 18-11 record and a 12-10 mark in the KCAC.
“Tough loss tonight to a really good Southwestern team,” head coach T.J. Eskildsen said. “Not the ending we wanted, but it was still a very good season with a great group of young men.”
Antonio Watson paced the Bulldogs with a career-high 28 points, while Curtis Rose added 25 points. Jamil Hardaway finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Jerome Mabry scored 10 points and pulled down five boards.
The Bulldogs shot 40.6 percent from the field, but were just 7-for-20 from beyond the arc. Watson led the way with five triples, while Rose connected on the other two.
Southwestern was 15-for-28 from beyond the arc, including 8-for-17 from distance in the first half.
The Bulldogs were cold in the first half, shooting just 31.4 percent. MC led by as many as eight less than five minutes into the game, but a 22-3 burst by the Moundbuilders over the next six minutes gave SC a 27-16 lead.
A triple by Watson briefly halted that run, but the Builders offense again exploded to carry a 52-33 advantage into the break.
Southwestern pushed its lead to as many as 23 in the early portion of the second half, but the Bulldogs showed they had a little fight left in them, using an 11-3 to trim the lead to 66-54 with 11:36 to play.
But out of the time out, the Moundbuilders showed why they were the ninth-ranked team in the country, pushing the lead back to 21 four minutes later.
Cevin Clark led the Moundbuilders with 35 points on 14-for-23 shooting, including connecting on five of his eight three-point attempts. Jarvis Jennings added 18 points, while Andrew O’Brien finished with 14 points, eleven rebounds and eight assists.
“We have a lot coming back next year,” Eskildsen said. “I’m very excited for the future of this program.”
