Box Score | Season Stats

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - - Five Truman men's basketball players hit double-figures, and senior Ethan Freeman posted a 13-point, 13-rebound, nine-assist outing as the Bulldogs dealt Missouri Western a 91-79 defeat on Saturday night in the Looney Fieldhouse.

The Bulldogs (7-17, 5-15 MIAA) trailed for just 41 seconds in the entire game, fueled by a 17-4 start through the first five minutes. Missouri Western (11-14, 9-11 MIAA) took the lead briefly late in the half twice, but a Freeman (Urbandale, Iowa, Urbandale) lay-up followed by a Pat Sodemann (St. Louis, Mo., Parkway West) three-pointer in the final minute sent the 'Dogs to the intermission ahead, 41-38.

Truman only continued to increase its lead, scoring nine of the first 13 points out of the half to take a 50-42 lead with 17:30 to play in the game. After building its lead to 13, 64-51, the Griffons made a run to close to within three, but Truman went on a 12-3 burst to widen the gap, capped by another Sodemann triple with less than two minutes to go. That gave the Bulldogs an 83-71 insurmountable lead, which the purple and white would push to the final 91-79 margin.

Sodemann and Alex Henderson (Willard, Mo., Willard) led the Bulldogs with 17 points apiece, while Tom Norton (Bloomington, Ill., Bloomington Catholic) and Vesko Filchev (Plovdiv, Bulgaria, GPCHE) poured in 15 each. Freeman moved to within four points of 1,000 for his career with his 13 point outing. Both Freeman and Filchev recorded a double-double by pulling down 13 and 12 each, while Freeman's nine assists led all players.

Norton and Henderson hit four three-pointers each, with Sodemann adding three of his own off the bench. Isaac Gardner (Washington, Iowa, Washington), the MIAA's second-best three-point shooter, hit his only attempt from distance on the night.

For the game, Truman shot 49% (30-for-61) from the field and drained 12 three-pointers at a 52% clip. The Bulldogs also out-rebounded Missouri Western, 44-34, and handed out 22 team assists.

In addition to Freeman inching closer to his historic points milestone, Henderson continued his climb to the 1,000 career point mark as well, needing just eight after reaching 992 on Saturday night.

Truman returns to action on Wednesday (Feb. 23) night at Lincoln (Mo.) University. Tipoff from Jason Gym in Jefferson City is set for 7:30 pm.