Men Improve to 7-1 in MCCC
The final two regular season home games for the 2014-15 Barclay College Bears were this past weekend. Both games were against Midwest Christian College Conference opponents with plenty at stake. Friday night Calvary Bible College (Belton, Mo.) ventured to Bear country and then Ozark Christian College (Joplin, Mo.) was in town for Homecoming on Saturday afternoon. With just three MCCC games left on the schedule, the Bears were still in contention for the regular season championship, but, depending on how the games played out, had the potential to drop all the way to fourth place in conference play.
Friday night, the last thing the Bears wanted to do was overlook the Warriors for their matchup with Ozark on Saturday. The Bears came out on a mission. In the opening minutes of the game, the Bears built a double digit lead and never looked back. Posting a season best 66 points in the first half in route to a 113-72 win. In the lopsided win, the Bears had five players score in double figures.
The stage was set for an epic game on Saturday afternoon. Just two weeks prior, the Bears sneaked out of Joplin, Mo. with a one point win as the two jockeyed for a top seed in the MCCC tournament just around the corner. The game lived up to its billing. Neither team held a lead greater than six points as action was back and forth with neither team able to create separation on the scoreboard. Ozark held a narrow 50-47 lead heading into halftime.
In the second half, freshman Adam Williams (Kissimmee, Fla.) sparked the Bears by connecting on three three pointers in a span of four minutes. The Bears, however, could not pull away as Ozark went blow for blow. The Ambassadors found themselves nursing a two point lead in the final minute when they came up short on the front end of a one and one. The Bears then connected on one free throw on their end and tipped in the missed second attempt to regain the lead by one with 27 seconds left. After a series of deflections, the Ambassadors were able to collect the ball, finish a lay-up and draw a foul to regain the lead by one. They missed their free throw, however, and with just seven seconds left, the Bears sophomore point guard Cole Hibler (Ponca City, Okla.) received the ball and raced to the other end. He relentlessly attacked the basket and was able to draw the whistle. After he tied the game with his first free shot, the second one gave the lead back to the Bears with only 1.7 seconds left. The Ambassadors final shot was wide left and the Bears pulled off another one point victory against the Ambassadors, 91-90.
On the weekend the Bears were led by their lone senior, Tony Graham (Baltimore, Md.). In his final two regular season home games, Graham posted 47 points and 12 rebounds. He currently leads the Bears in scoring at 18 points a game.
The Bears (10-11, 7-1) play their final MCCC game in Manhattan, Kan. against Manhattan Christian College on Tuesday at 7 p.m.