Threshers clip Mac, win title

By STEVE SELL, Sentinel Sports Editor

In a matter of 10 minutes, Bethel College's men went from possible KCAC co-champions to outright champions.

After rallying to hand McPherson College's Bulldogs a 77-70 setback Saturday at the Sport Center, Thresher coach Gary Chupp and the Bethel rooters gathered on the court to listen to the end of the Bethany-Sterling game on the radio.

When Sterling rallied to knock off the Swedes 58-57, that gave the Threshers the outright championship and an automatic berth in the national tournament, setting off a wild celebration.

McPherson College, meanwhile, avoided a play-in game by finishing in sixth place with a 9-9 KCAC record and closed 14-14 overall. The Bulldogs and Ottawa tied for the sixth spot, but Mac had a one-point advantage under the tie-breaker system.

Mac travels Wednesday to Bethany, which wound up as the No. 3 seed after losing the second-place tiebreaker to Sterling.

"Bethel has a fine team," Mac coach Roger Trimmell said. "I congratulate Gary. They've done a fine job. I thought we played hard and had our chances to win, but we made too many silly turnovers."

The Bulldogs led 7-0 out of the chute and still were up 37-33 in a well-played first half.

But the Threshers took Mac out of its offensive rhythm in the second half. Down 47-43, the Threshers forced three straight turnovers, and the result was three baskets, two of them 3-pointers, and they never looked back.

The Bulldogs fell behind as many as 13 before cutting it to 6, but a basket by Frank Flores, followed by a highly questionable intentional foul that even Chupp admitted was a probable gift, clinched it for the Threshers.

Flores finished with 28 points and Trimmell said he could be the Player of the Year in the KCAC. "He was just a man in the second half," Trimmell said.

A key, though, was Bethel's bench. When it made its big move, reserves Jayson Artaz and Ryan Gerber came up big. In fact, the Bethel bench scored 32 points, while the depth-shy Bulldogs received only 4.

Jose Morales scored 22 points and had 12 rebounds for Mac, while Brian Hooks scored 16 and Kenny Romero had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Roy McDonald added 11 points.

Mac and Bethany now hook up for a third time, as the teams have split so far. In the last meeting, Mac trailed by 17 points midway through the second half before rallying for the win.

If the Bulldogs win, they would in all likelihood play at Sterling on Saturday.

Mac (70) -- Morales 6 7-10 22; McDonald 4 2-2 11; Norris 2 1-2 5; Hooks 7 2-2 16; Cox 1 2-2 4; Romero 6 0-0 12. Totals -- 26 14-18 70. 3-pointers -- Morales 3, McDonald 1.

Bethel (77) -- Garcia 4 0-0 10; Hoops 2 0-0 4; McGavock 0 2-4 2; Esau 2 0-0 4; Howie 3 1-2 7; Artaz 3 0-0 8; Albright 2 0-0 4; Gerber 3 1-2 7; Flores 8 12-18 28; Gregory 1 1-2 3. Totals -- 28 17-28 77. 3-pointers -- Garcia 2, Artaz 2.