Dogballers go 14-15
The McPherson College men’s basketball team opened the 2007 season going 10-5 overall and 4-2 in conference play after putting together a four-game win streak around the holiday break.
But, the second half of season saw offensive struggles plague the Dogballers as they went 3-9 to finish out the regular season, and fell into a tie for sixth place in the final KCAC standings but still a step up from the predicted ninth place finish by both the conference coaches’ and media. “We let a couple of games get away in late January to put ourselves in a hole, and then we had to face the top three teams in the conference in the final three games of the (regular) season,” observed Bulldog head coach Roger Trimmell.
The Bulldogs won their play-in round contest of the KCAC post-season tournament, but fell in the conference tournament quarterfinals to NAIA national tournament qualifier Friends, in overtime on the Falcons’ home floor.
“I felt we played some of our best ball the final two weeks of the season, it just came against some very good teams (two of which qualified for the NAIA tournament). Still those games and our (pair of) wins over Bethany were nice.”
Two Bulldogs received All-KCAC honors following the season. Cody Dickerson and Shawn Young, both juniors, were selected to the All-KCAC honorable mention and All-Defensive teams, respectively. Scott Bradley, junior transfer from Chickasha, Okla., finished the season as the Bulldogs leading scorer, averaging 12.8 points per game.
Alumni Weekend was highlighted by the recognition of senior Austin Klumpe as the first recipient of the Pat Noyes Men’s Basketball Scholarship and head coach Roger Trimmell for his 25 years as the head of Bulldog program.
“With Austin (Klumpe) being our only senior this year, the pieces should be there to make a move up the conference ladder (next year).”
