Article by Chad Clevenger
McPherson, Kan. - The Central Tiger magic continued as the Tigers beat the Bulldogs for the 1^st time in the Mayors Cup since 2019, and the 7^th time in Coach Tony Romero's coaching career, in a 2^nd thrilling game of the night. Tigers were looking to get off to a better start than a year ago, when they spotted the Bulldogs a 12 point lead. A career tying scoring night of 27 points by Omari Maulana, and, as Jevarrick Butler hit a 3 pointer on the Tigers 1^st possession of the game, made sure the slow start was not going to happen this year, and push for the Cup to return to Central, as the Tigers held off the Bulldogs in a thrilling 88-87 victory at Alexander Arena.
The 1^st half did see the Bulldogs get a lead as high as 9 points, but good free throw shooting, and the ability to get the ball to the basket the Tigers were able to claw back, with a 16-6 run over the next four minutes, and took the lead after a Jevarrick Butler 3 pointer, who went on to score 18 points. To finish the last 8 minutes, we saw a nice back and forth through the rest of the 1^st half as we saw 13 lead changes, and the Tigers were able to get to the break with a 48-46 lead.
The benches for both teams were tremendous with energy and production as the Bulldogs had 34 points off the bench, but the Tigers won that battle as well, with 41 points off the bench, with great minutes from Andruw Rondon's 8 points, and 5 Rebounds. The Tigers ability to get to the basket allowed them outside opportunities, and Maulana was able to get five 3 pointers, and it put Tiger Chris Whitten in position to get a few timely shots on his way to 19 points.
The Tigers lead throughout the 2^nd half and built a 9 point lead with 8 minute remaining after an Andre Shelby bucket, pushed the Tigers to a 78-69 lead. But the Bulldogs would not let the game get away from them, as the Bulldogs played some inside-out basketball, with a 10-0 run, led by Colin Storr buckets and shooting by Dallas Metzger, and the Bulldogs took the lead 79-78. After 2 free throws by Malachi Farr, the Tigers would take the lead, and it was for good from this point on as the Tigers free throw shooting was outstanding down the stretch, as they were 6-6 in that span. With a 88-84 lead the Bulldogs got a 3 from Metzger and cut the game to 1 with 38 seconds left.  The Tigers took time off the clock, but came up scoreless, and the Bulldogs had the ball with a chance to win the game. The Bulldogs got a shot off, but missed, and a final chance to get the ball into Storr was denied by the Tiger defense and the Tigers survived with an 88-87 nail biter.
 
Key Stat: Tigers Shot 89% from the Free Throw Line (25-28), and 93% in the 2^nd half down the stretch (14-15). Team was shooting 57% on the season up to this point.
 
Team Leaders:
Points: Omari Maulana (27)
Rebounds: Jevarrick Butler (8)
Assists: Andre Shelby (7)
Steals: Jevarrick Butler (2)
Blocks: Andre Shelby (3)
 
Coach's Comment:
"A great match up tonight between our schools.  I have a lot of respect for Coach E at Mac College, I think he does a great job with his guys.  The fans were treated to two great games this evening, with both games going down to the final buzzer.  It is equally exciting for our players, to play in front of the high energy crowd we had this evening.  It really had the feel of a post season game.  I am happy for our guys for coming through in the end.  McPherson came out the first half and really shot the ball well, we were struggling transitioning on the defensive side which put us in a hole early in the game.  I was happy that we were able to settle and finish the half with the lead going to the locker room.  The second half, I felt we really did a better job being connected on both sides of the basketball.  We were able to manufacture some easier baskets from our execution and from our defense.   The big stat in the game for us was finishing at the free throw line, we converted 25/28, that was huge for us.  Andre Shelby had a great game, 8 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks, is a great night.  He is a catalyst for our team.  Omari played really well, outside of a couple silly turnovers, he had a good command this evening.  Also, Andruw Rondon had a solid performance off of the bench.  He has a lot of upside for our team.  We still need to do a much better job competing on the glass, we have to finish plays more consistent and reward ourselves for getting 1st shot stops.  Offensively, we would like to see continued growth in trusting one another.
 
The Tigers will host the Manhattan Christian College Thunder on Saturday Night as part of the Homecoming activities on campus. The game is set to tip off at 6pm. It can be seen on the SAC Sports Network.