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Season Recap
With the loss of three starters including two 1,000-point career scorers from their 2004-05 squad, the Bulldog men entered the 2005-2006 season looking for the one, two, or three players they could consistently go to for the big basket when needed.
The early non-conference schedule saw the Bulldogs put together a 6-3 mark before opening the KCAC portion of their schedule in December.
“It was apparent we didn’t really have a go-to scorer this year. If we were going to be successful, we had to do it as a team, not as individuals.”
Opening the conference schedule against the top five picks in the KCAC pre-season polls, then, dropping a disappointing decision to KWU, Bulldogs stood 1-5 in conference play with only an overtime win over Ottawa on the left side of the ledger by the middle of January.
The last half of January saw McPherson alternate wins and losses before ending the month with a second win over Ottawa, sweeping the season series from the Braves who would tie for third in the final conference standings. The Ottawa win was followed by three more victories in their next four games, but back-to-back losses would end the Bulldogs’ regular season, leaving McPherson 8th in the KCAC race with a 7-11 conference record.
In the play-in round of the conference tournament, the Bulldogs would avenge their loss to Bethel from a week earlier, earning the privilege of playing #11 nationally ranked Southwestern, in the quarterfinals.
McPherson would play Southwestern even for a half, but couldn’t hang on as the bigger, quicker regular season conference champion Moundbuilders ended the Bulldogs’ 15-15 season.
Seniors Lee Gustafson, Tim Cox, and Chris Nixon each received All-KCAC post-season honors. Gustafson was named to the All-KCAC first team, Cox named to the honorable mention squad, and Nixon to the All-Defensive team.
The Bulldogs will lose three seniors among its top five scorers plus two others to graduation in May. Departing will be Lee Gustafson (11.5 pts, 5.6 rebs), Tim Cox (9.1 pts, 3.4 rebs), Chris Nixon (7.3 pts, 6.6 rebs), Art Soto (5.4 pts, 1.4 rebs) as well as Travis Allen (2.8 pts, 2.1 rebs), who will pick up his diploma in May with a year of eligibility remaining.
Looking ahead to next year, the Bulldogs’ top returnees should be guards Austin Klumpe (2.5 pts, 1.2 rebs), Tyler Stewart (2.7 pts), Cody Dickerson (7.7 pts, 2.2 rebs), and Jordan Carter (5.2 pts, 1.1 rbs), along with forwards Zach Kimble 3.2 pts, 3.2 rebs), Thor Rooks (4.7 pts, 2.5 rebs), and Nate Hadachek (7.6 pts, 2.6 rebs). Those young men should be joined by junior varsity front liners Mark Johnson and Dan Erb, who saw sporadic varsity time.
“For the second year in a row, we’re losing our top two scorers and rebounders. It’s pretty obvious, the guys returning will have to step up their level of play next fall, and we (coaches) are going to have to hit the recruiting trail hard this spring. ”
While no individual school records were set during the past season, season highlights did include single game, team records for assists (25) against Haskell Indian Nations University, blocked shots (11) versus Central Christian College, and steals (18) against Barclay College.
