[Men's Basketball] Murdock Eclipses 1,000 Career Points in Falcons' 81-72 Win Over McPherson
WICHITA, Kan. – On a night when Jordan Murdock (JR/Wichita, Kan.) reached and passed 1,000 points for his career, the (RV) Friends University Falcons made sure the night ended on a good note by finishing off an 81-72 victory over the McPherson College Bulldogs in KCAC action tonight (Dec. 6) inside the Garvey PE Gymnasium.
The win moves the Falcons into a five-way tie for second place in the KCAC at 4-2.
"Jordan going for his 1000th tonight at home was great," Friends head coach Dale Faber said.
"He finds a way night in and night out and to get to a 1000 in just 41 games is amazing. I know we should focus on his 1000th but in tonight's game he had 26 points, 13 rebounds and 0 turnovers. Glad he was here!"
In a tightly contested battle from the outset, it was the Falcons that executed down the stretch.
In a 67-67 gridlock, EJ Garnes (JR/Wichita, Kan. ) drilled a critical jumper with 2:44 left to give the Falcons a lead they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the way.
Murdock followed that with a three-point play and then a cutting layup from Tanner Sloan (FR/Albuquerque, N.M. ) extended the Friends lead to seven at the 1:25 mark.
Garnes then made three free throws and Sloan hit a pair at the charity stripe over the final 1:07 to put the game away for the Falcons.
Trailing 12-9, scores from Josh Mann (SR/Detroit, Mich. ) and Murdock gave the Falcons their first lead of the night and shortly after, a three by Tucker Thompson (JR/Coffeyville, Kan. ) capped a 9-0 burst that put Friends up 18-12 with 9:21 left in the opening half.
The Bulldogs then used a pair of separate 7-0 spurts over the remainder of the half that was sandwiched around a personal 8-0 run by Murdock to take a 31-29 lead at the break.
With the score at 38-38, Zion Fralin (FR/Wichita, Kan. ) and Garnes each connected from three-point distance to put the Falcons ahead by six at the 13:43 mark.
After the Bulldogs battled back to tie the score at 50-50, Murdock scored his 1,000th career point to ignite a run of seven straight points that was finished with another three from Thompson that put the Falcons up by seven with 8:16 remaining.
The Falcons later extended the lead to double-figures for the first time as a jumper by Atir Cherne (JR/Wichita, Kan.) and another trey by Garnes pushed the lead to 63-53.
The lead was still at 10 when the Bulldogs once again charged back, ripping off a 12-2 burst to tie the score with 3:01 remaining.
The nation's leading scorer, Murdock shot 9-of-14 overall from the field, two-of-four from the perimeter and six-of-eight from the free-throw line in scoring his team-high 26 points. His 13 rebounds give him his KCAC-leading sixth double-double of the season.
Garnes recorded a career-high 22 points for the Falcons (6-5, 4-2 KCAC) and dished out a team-best eight assists.
Aaron Bachura led all scorers with 30 points for the Bulldogs (1-10, 0-6 KCAC), while Grant Munsen added 14.
After shooting just 39.3 percent (11-of-28) from the field in the opening half, the Falcons heated up to a 58.6 percent (17-of-29) clip in the second to finish at 49.1 percent (28-of-57).
Friends also outrebounded the Bulldogs 40-29 overall, with the points in the paint being even at 26-26.
"We feel extremely lucky to escape tonight with a win, Faber said. "We struggled in all areas of the game but somehow got enough good things done. If we don't learn through our struggles the last three games, then we are setting ourselves up for disappointment.
"EJ made big shots along with a few others, so we will pick out some positives along with the shortcomings and prepare for York on Saturday."
The Falcons' matchup at (RV) York on Saturday (Dec. 9) will tip-off at 7 pm in York, Neb.