Truman Game Notes (.PDF)
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The Truman men's basketball train continues to chug along as the Bulldogs have pushed their winning streak to five with an overall record of 7-1, including a 2-0 mark in the GLVC. Most recently, Truman picked up a couple of road dubs over the likes of Rockhurst on Thursday (72-58) and William Jewell on Saturday (95-80). The Bulldogs now turn their attention to Central Methodist in a nonconference battle and rival Quincy for a GLVC road test.
Truman continues to score at a prolific rate and its 85.3 points per game are good for fourth in the GLVC as well as 55th in all of Division II. If that average holds up, it would be the second-highest scoring offense in program history behind the Bulldogs' 1978-79 attack (86.4). Not only that, but Truman is making over 50 percent of its field goal attempts including over 46 percent of its chances from behind the arc. With
Connor Erickson's scoring average up to 10.5 points per game, the Bulldogs now boast four different scorers averaging at least 10 points per contest. Those other three are
Jake Velky at 17.1,
Nathan Messer at 13.6 and
Cory Myers at 12.6. Dwight Sistrunk Jr. is close to joining that club with an average of 8.8.
Scouting the Eagles
Central Methodist is the 23rd-ranked NAIA team in the nation and the Eagles are in year No. 32 under head coach, Jeff Sherman. During his time in Fayette, Sherman has accumulated an overall record of 568-449 (.559) with 11 20-win seasons, most recently in 2014-15 (20-12). Fast forward to this season and Central Methodist is 6-3 overall and 4-3 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference with a two-game losing streak entering Tuesday's affair. Much like the Bulldogs, the Eagles have four scorers putting up at least 10 points per game including Ron Lee (22.4), Brian Egejuru (16.3), Vashawn Ruffin (14.5), and Bo Burkhart (10.8). Lee is obviously the ringleader there and this season, the Oak Park, Calif. native has turned in five 20-point performances including a 40-point showing against William Penn on Nov. 12. That game, Lee was 12-of-18 from the floor, 6-for-7 from three-point land and 10-of-11 from the free throw line. In the all-time series, Truman has dominated to the tune of 24 wins and just seven losses including 12 straight victories dating back to the 1951-52 season. With that being said, these two teams haven't met since November of 1991.
Scouting the Hawks
Putting it lightly, Truman and Quincy don't like each other, and the numbers from the all-time series reflect just that. The Bulldogs and Hawks have played each other 118 times and both teams have taken 59 of the meetings. Recently, though, it's been all about Truman with eight-straight victories and a 5-0 record in the
Chris Foster era. During those past eight showdowns, the Bulldogs have outscored the Hawks 696-586 or an average of 87-73 per game. Keeping the trend alive, Quincy has four scorers pouring in at least 10 points per game just like Truman and Central Methodist. Those four Hawks are Joseph Tagarelli (17.4), Von Washington III (15.4), Evan McGaughey (13.6), and Herm Senor II (12.4). Tagarelli is the one to keep your eye on as he's averaging a double-double with those 17.4 points per game and 10.1 boards per contest. As a team, Quincy is shooting a red-hot 52.8 percent from the floor.
Lee for Three
As mentioned above, the Eagles most potent scorer is senior guard, Ron Lee. Not only is Lee averaging a team high 22.4 points per game with five-20 point turnouts, but the California native is doing so very efficiently. Lee is shooting an even 50 percent from the field (67-of-134) including 49.2 percent from behind the arc (30-of-61). Truman loves to shoot the three in its own right, but Lee enjoys doing just that. The 6-2 shooter has taken at least five attempts from distance in seven of the team's nine games this year including 13 in the season opener against Southwestern Christian of Oklahoma.
Tale of Two Halves
For Truman, it has outscored its opponents 345-272 in the first half or +73. For Central Methodist, it's been about the second half in which the Eagles have outscored their opponents 442-370 or +72. The Bulldogs still hold an advantage in the second half, 337-300, but the Eagles have been outscored 351-338 (-13) in the first 20 minutes of their games. With that, it looks like Central Methodist will play its best basketball out of the halftime break, but Truman has thrived there as of late. In their last two games, the Bulldogs have opened the second half with runs of 16-0 at Rockhurst and 18-5 at William Jewell.
Three-Point Land
Truman is one of the best teams in the league at shooting the three while Quincy is one of the GLVC's best teams in defending it. Among the conference ranks, the Bulldogs are first in three-point field goals made with 87 or 10.9 per game and three-point field goal percentage at 46.5 percent. On the defensive end, the Hawks are allowing their opponents to shoot just 27.9 percent from behind the arc, the lowest mark in the GLVC. Truman has made at least 10 triples in six of its eight games while Quincy hasn't allowed an opponent to make at least 10 treys all season. In fact, the most shots a Quincy opponent has made from range is eight and it has happened twice (RMU-Springfield and Northwood). However, both of those games, the opponent shot 33 percent or lower from distance.
League's Finest
Truman and Quincy each have one of the top scorers in the GLVC. From the Bulldogs is
Jake Velky and from the Hawks is Joseph Tagarelli. Velky's 17.1 points per game are good for a tie for seventh in the conference and four spots down in 11th place are Tagarelli's 16.7 points per contest. Among those top seven scorers, Velky has 25 three-pointers, six more than the next-closest player, and the fourth-most minutes played with 211. Meanwhile, Tagarelli is one of only three players in the league averaging a double-double along with McKendree's Nolan Gerling and Illinois Springfield's Zach Steinberg.
