— McPHERSON COLLEGE ATHLETICS RELEASE —
McPHERSON, Kan. (MacBulldogs.com) — Over the weekend, the McPherson College athletic department inducted the 2010-11 and 2011-12 men’s basketball teams to the McPherson College Hall of Fame at the annual Bulldog Athletic Banquet.
In 2010-11, the Bulldogs finished the KCAC tied for second place with an 11-7 mark in conference play, and earned the two-seed in the KCAC postseason tournament. As the second-place team in the league, the Bulldogs advanced to the NAIA Division II National Championships for the first time since 1938, and got hot at the right time.
20 points from Samson Shivers helped MC move on to the second round past sixth-ranked Embry-Riddle University, then a balanced attack sent the Bulldogs to the Quarterfinals for the first time in school history, knocking off Warner Pacific College.
The success of the previous year helped set the stage for the 2011-12 Bulldogs to reach new heights. The Bulldogs won a program record 33 games, losing just four times to become the KCAC regular season champion for the first time since 1945.
In the NAIA Tournament, the Bulldogs gritted out a win over St. Thomas University, before squaring off against Dordt College in the Quarterfinals.
Down seven with 51 seconds to go, Shivers hit the first of his two 3-pointers in the final 35 seconds and started one of the biggest comebacks in tournament history. Dordt missed two free throws on the ensuing possession and McPherson cut the lead to one on a 3-pointer by Aaron Frazier. A Defenders turnover on the inbound pass gave the Bulldogs the basketball back and Shivers drained another 3-pointer to give his team its first lead of the second half (80-78) with 14 seconds left.
With the win over Dordt, the Bulldogs advanced to the NAIA Division II semifinals, but fell 76-56 to top-ranked Northwood University (now Keiser University) to end their magical run.
The 2024 Hall of Fame class will be rounded out at the annual Hall of Fame Banquet on Oct. 18 at the Community Building. The Homecoming game will be the following afternoon (Oct. 19) when the Bulldogs host Bethel College at McPherson Stadium.
