QUINCY, Ill. - Simply put, Saturday is what rivalries are all about. Trailing Quincy 91-90 with the length of the court in front of them and just 2.9 ticks on the clock, the Bulldogs drew up a play for three-point assassin,
Nathan Messer. Messer and his team couldn't have asked for a better look as the sophomore took a feed from
Connor Erickson at the left wing and put it up, but came up short as the final buzzer sounded.
The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for Truman (8-2, 2-1 GLVC) as well as eight games without a loss against Quincy (10-1, 3-0 GLVC) dating back to before the
Chris Foster era in November of 2012. With the 119th meeting leaning the way of the Hawks, they take a lead in the all-time series, 60-59. With that being said, don't let the result take away from the day that
Jake Velky had. The sophomore from Waverly, Iowa missed the Central Methodist game and wasn't happy about it as he poured in a career high 35 points on 10-of-14 shooting, a perfect 13-for-13 at the free throw line, to go with eight rebounds, three steals and two assists. That effort is the most points for a Truman player since Seth Jackson racked up 42 at Drury on Jan. 29, 2015.
Velky was one of five Bulldogs in double-figures including Messer (14),
Cory Myers (12), Erickson (12), and
Dwight Sistrunk, Jr. (10). Erickson also had a big day on the glass with 10 rebounds for his and the team's third double-double of the year. Sistrunk Jr. was also the ringleader in assists with three while Erickson and
Billy Daniel each had one of the squad's two blocks. In the team head-to-head, Truman led in points off turnovers (15-12), second-chance points (10-9), bench points (7-5), and defensive rebounds (23-22) while Quincy held the advantage in points in the paint (44-32), fast-break points (11-2), total rebounds (34-30), assists (15-9), and blocks (4-2).
The Bulldogs can thank the free throw line for the game being so close as they were a spotless 22-of-22 at the charity stripe, their most attempts without a miss in school history. That mark crushed the old record of 14-for-14 set on Feb. 14, 1996. Individually, Velky's 13-of-13 effort came up just two shy of Terry Bussard's (15-for-15) set on Jan. 30, 1979, which still stands as the only game where a Bulldog shot at least 15 free throws and made all of them.
At the beginning of the first half, there were seven ties and five lead changes through the first eight minutes and change. At that point, the score was tied up, 22-22, before Quincy's Joseph Tagarelli (29 points and 17 rebounds) tipped it in for a pair to put the Hawks up and they wouldn't trail again until the second half. After that tie until the intermission, the home team outscored its visitors by 11, 35-24, and was up 11 heading into the locker room, 57-46.
Out of the break, Truman used one of its patented second-half runs to get back in the game as it scored 26 points to Quincy's 14, including a 19-7 spurt in the first four minutes and 29 seconds. The Bulldogs biggest second-period lead was six, 82-76, and it came with just over seven minutes to play in the contest. After three more ties and three lead changes, the Hawks had that 91-90 lead with just 12 seconds to play. In the first of two tries to take the lead, Truman turned it over and fouled Von Washington III who missed both his free throws before coach Foster called a timeout to draw up the final play.
The Bulldogs will now take a break from conference play as they travel to The Wesleyan Way Invitational hosted by Kentucky Wesleyan on Dec. 16-17 in Owensboro, Ky.
