Men's Basketball Stifles Cardinal Offense in 67-52 Road Win

FINAL: Truman 67, at William Jewell 52|| Box Scores (HTML | XML | PDF)
2013-14 Schedule || 2013-14 Season Stats

LIBERTY, Mo. - - The Truman men's basketball team dictated the pace of play at William Jewell College on Saturday afternoon, holding the host Cardinals nearly 32 points below their season average en route to a 67-52 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory.

The Bulldogs (14-3, 7-2 GLVC) trailed 8-6 at the 14-minute mark of the first half before executing a 25-5 run during an 8-minute, 56-second stretch to pull ahead 31-13 with 5:04 to play in the opening frame. During that spell, the Bulldogs held William Jewell (7-10, 3-6 GLVC) without a field goal for nearly eight full minutes.

From that point forward, the Cardinals never drew to within double-digits, as the Bulldog defense – ranked No. 1 in the GLVC coming into today's affair – limited the WJC high-powered offense to just a 29% field goal output. The Bulldogs swatted five shots and held the hosts to only two made three-pointers on the afternoon. The 52 points allowed were the fewest permitted by Truman against an NCAA Div. II team since a 76-50 win at Quincy on Dec. 18, 2012, and sent the 'Dogs to their sixth straight GLVC victory.

"Our ability to make them play in the half-court made all the difference this afternoon," head coach Matt Woodley commented in his post-game show. "It was a great group effort from a bunch of guys that were committed to winning today."

Truman was led offensively by Seth Jackson's second straight 20-plus point outing, as the junior finished with a season-high 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor. He added six rebounds and made 6-of-7 free throw tries.

Meanwhile, senior Mike Carlson filled up the box score with a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double to go alongside five assists, four blocks and a steal. He was Truman's sole source of three-point activity on the day, as the 'Dogs posted just a 4-for-22 mark from three-point range, with Carlson draining four of his nine opportunities. Fellow senior Marek Bush added nine points and seven rebounds off the bench on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting line with three free throws.

On the day, the Bulldogs connected on 24-of-53 field goal attempts (45%) and hit 15-of-21 (71%) free throws. Truman out-rebounded WJC 42-40 and picked up five steals.

Truman remains one game back in the GLVC West Division but now has a three-game cushion in the No. 2 slot, as two teams – including Thursday night's upcoming opponent Missouri S&T – sit at 4-5 in league play. The Bulldogs kick off a four-game home-stand at 7:30 pm on Thursday (Jan. 30) against the Miners (9-8, 4-5 GLVC) in Pershing Arena.

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