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KIRKSVILLE - - The 2011 season of Bulldog basketball draws to a close on Saturday afternoon, as the Truman men celebrate Senior Day at 3 pm against the University of Central Missouri. The Bulldogs will recognize seven seniors prior to tipoff.
Ethan Freeman, Brian Nwelue, Andrew James, Stefan Garrison, Alex Henderson, Mark Misiewicz and David Scott comprise Truman's class of 2011. The Bulldogs (7-18, 5-16 MIAA) will be trying to build on its largest season-win total since the 2006-07 season against the Mules (17-10, 12-9 MIAA), who enter having already locked up the No. 5 seed for the upcoming MIAA tournament.
Both the Bulldogs and Mules are coming off Wednesday night losses, with Truman falling 77-65 at Lincoln (Mo.) and Central Missouri coming up short in overtime, 95-91, against Missouri Western. Truman defeated Missouri Western, 91-79, last Saturday (Feb. 19).
Earlier this season, UCM dealt the Bulldogs a 73-45 setback in Warrensburg, as Truman shot just 37% and hit only two three-pointers. The two teams will be meeting for the 189th time on Saturday afternoon.
Media Information:
104.7 FM KRES is the official radio home of Truman football, men's basketball and women's basketball. Brad Boyer and Hank Janssen will provide coverage throughout the season of Truman basketball on the Moberly-based station.
KRES broadcasts its sports coverage online at centralmoinfo.com. Fans can also watch MIAA games on their computer this season through AmericaOne/B2 Networks for a fee.
Live stats for all Bulldog games throughout the season will be made available via links on the men's basketball schedule page at TrumanBulldogs.com.
Dog Bites:
· Senior Ethan Freeman is averaging nearly a double-double on the season (11.7 ppg, 9.5 rpg) and is the MIAA's top rebounder (both total and defensive). He has 11 double-doubles on the season and has set new career-highs this year in points, rebounds and assists. Freeman has also been just short of the program's first triple-double in nearly 20 years three times this season, most recently ending one assist shy (13-13-9) at Missouri Western on Feb. 19.
· Senior Alex Henderson is the team's leading scorer at 14.6 ppg and has 19 double-figure games this year. He has hit 52 3-pointers at a 41% clip and is a 77% free throw shooter. He set a new career-high with 26 points against Nebraska-Omaha on Feb. 12 and topped the 20-point mark for the fifth time this year in that outing.
· Sophomore Tom Norton is third on the team in scoring at 10.3 ppg and has drained a team-high 62 3-pointers this season. He also set a career-high in points (21) against Nebraska-Omaha on Feb. 12, doing so off the bench.
· Junior Vesko Filchev is fourth on the team in scoring, checking in at 9.7 ppg. He is shooting 52% from the field and leads the squad with 24 blocked shots. Vesko has also recorded four double-doubles this year, most recently against Missouri Western on Feb. 19.
· Freshman Isaac Gardner ranks third the MIAA in three-point shooting percentage (42.4%) and is averaging 7.0 points per game. He has started two times this season and is averaging 17.5 minutes per game.
· Senior Stefan Garrison has started 19 of 23 games this year and is averaging 4.1 points per game. He has two double-figure scoring games this season and recently surpassed 100 career games – the third member of the senior class to do so (Freeman, Henderson).
· Freshman Pat Sodemann scored a career-high 18 points in Truman's Feb. 5 win against Southwest Baptist and is averaging 4.8 points per game. He is one of just five Bulldogs to play in all 25 games this season and is 29-for-33 (88%) from the free throw line.
Bulldogs Eclipse 1,000:
Seniors Alex Henderson and Ethan Freeman became the 23rd and 24th members of Truman's 1,000-point club on Wednesday night at Lincoln, earning the distinction of the first teammates to do so on the same evening.
Henderson drilled his third three-pointer of the game at the 7:41 mark of the first half to reach the millennium mark, while Freeman laid in an easy two just 16 seconds into the second half to reach the milestone as well.
Both players are now chasing Steve Liford, who sits 22nd all-time in career scoring at 1,017. Liford played from 1985-88. Nick Certa (2008) was the last player to hit 1,000 as a Bulldog, as he sits 18th all-time at 1,083.
Clutch 'Dogs:
For the season, Truman is shooting 69.1% from the free throw line, but that number has escalated in the waning minutes of games, as the Bulldogs are 74.8% (119-159) from the line in the final five minutes of games and overtime. Most notably, Pat Sodemann is a perfect 15-for-15 under those conditions, while Alex Henderson is 36-for-42 (85.7%).
Bombs Away:
The Bulldogs tied a season-high with 12 three-pointers made in the Feb. 19 win at Missouri Western. However, for the first time all year, Truman dropped a game in which it hit 10 triples, doing so on Wednesday night at Lincoln. The Bulldogs are now 4-1 this season when hitting ten or more in a game.
A Check of the Mules:
After its defeat of Truman in mid-January kick-started a 7-1 stretch, the Mules have cooled recently, dropping two of their past three to enter the regular season's final game.
UCM (17-10, 12-9 MIAA) is scoring more than 75 points per game and holding opponents to 69 points for the season, but that margin is just 72-70 in conference-only action. Boo Hunter (14.7), Tyrone Young (12.2) and Bryce Brunz (10.6) average double-figures offensively for UCM, while Joel Barkers carries the squad on the glass, checking in with 5.8 boards per game.
The Mules shoot 45% from the floor, 36% from three-point range and 69% from the free throw line. They hold a +4.2 rebounding margin and have gotten to the line nearly 150 times more than their opponents.
Kim Anderson is in his ninth season with the program and has a career mark of 202-73 at the school.
Earlier This Year:
(Jan. 19) WARRENSBURG, Mo. - - Despite getting out to a 13-8 lead through the first nine minutes, the Truman men's basketball team ended on the wrong side of a 24-3 run and could never recover on the way to a 73-45 loss at Central Missouri.
Senior Ethan Freeman scored nine of Truman's first 13 points to give the Bulldogs (5-10, 3-8 MIAA) a five-point edge at the 11:52 mark of the first half. But the Mule bench came on and sparked UCM (10-7, 5-6 MIAA) over the next eight minutes, scoring 24 of the next 27 points to build a 32-16 lead with three and a half minutes to go before the half.
Despite getting a handful of chances to get the margin under ten before the intermission, the 'Dogs went into halftime down, 34-21, and the Mules took just less than ten minutes out of the gate to build a 61-31 lead.
The 45 points scored by Truman marked the fewest this season, with the previous low coming at Fort Hays State – a 57-point effort on Jan. 3. The output was the lowest since 82-45 setback last season on Feb. 11 – also at Fort Hays State.
Freeman's 12 points led the Bulldogs, as the conference's rebounding leader pulled down four. Senior Alex Henderson also reached double-figures with ten points and led the 'Dogs with three assists.
