Bulldogs Hold Off Bearcats for Second Straight Win

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KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - Mike Carlson scored a team-high 21 points and Isaac Gardner added 18 points on six three-pointers to help the Truman men's basketball team win its second straight MIAA game with an 80-79 home thriller against Southwest Baptist on Wednesday night.

Carlson scored 12 of his 21 in the second half, as Truman (4-6, 2-1 MIAA) held off a furious SBU (6-5, 0-3 MIAA) rally late to pick up win No. 2 in league play. The Bulldogs blitzed the visiting Bearcats in the first half to the tune of 48 points and 56% shooting to carry a 15-point lead into the intermission. Gardner was lights-out in the opening 20 minutes, draining all six three-pointers he took to help spearhead the Bulldogs' highest first-half point total of the 2011-2012 campaign to-date.

The Bulldogs slowed down a bit in the second half, while SBU began to knock down some of its 33 total three-point attempts behind Kyle Sloan's game-high 29 points and four second-half triples. After the Bearcats cut the Bulldog lead to nine on four different occasions, SBU finally got it down to five with 48 seconds to play at 76-71. The margin would get as few as two at 78-76 on a Robson Menmon lay-up before Tom Norton hit one of two from the line to push the lead back to three with 15 seconds on the clock.

Carlson came through with a big block on a SBU three-point attempt with eight seconds left, then reeled in a defensive rebound on a second SBU jumper to go to the line with just one second to go.

The redshirt freshman split his attempts but then committed a foul on a heave by SBU's Ryan Dougherty, sending him to the line with 0.9 seconds on the clock. Dougherty hit the first two but then saw his third attempt rattle home, cutting any chance for a tip-in and allowing the 'Dogs to run out the clock and hold on for the victory.

Carlson and Gardner were the lone Bulldogs in double-figures on the night, but five other players scored at least six points for the purple and white. Junior EJ Hicks added eight points and four rebounds, while Patrick Burmester chipped in seven points, seven rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocks. Norton finished with nine points and three assists off the bench, and Seth Jackson added seven and three assists.

With the win, the Bulldogs earned back-to-back MIAA victories for the first time since Jan. 9-12, 2008 when the squad won at Fort Hays before returning home for a win against Missouri Western.

Truman will return to action on Saturday afternoon in Topeka, Kan., where the Bulldogs will face Washburn at 3:30 pm. The Ichabods (6-3, 1-1 MIAA) defeated 10^th-ranked Fort Hays State 61-45 on Wednesday night in Hays, Kan.

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