MBB Notes: Truman at Quincy (Feb. 25, 2016; 7:30 p.m.)

Truman Men's Basketball Notes (February 25, 2016)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TSUBulldogHoops || #BewareofDog
Printable/Media Game Notes (PDF)

Game #28: Truman (19-8, 11-6 GLVC) at Quincy (18-8, 12-5 GLVC)

When: Thursday, February 25, 2016 || 7:30 p.m.
Where: Quincy, Ill. || Pepsi Arena
Audio: 104.7 FM KRES (Brad Boyer, Play-by- Play; Hank Janssen, Analyst) || Online Feed
Live Stats || Live Stats (Mobile) || Live Video

Series Record: Quincy leads, 59-58.
Series Record in Quincy: Quincy leads, 36-18
Series Record Since Truman Joined GLVC: Truman leads, 6-0

Last Meeting: December 15, 2015 || Truman won, 91-76 (Kirksville, Mo.)
Last QU Win vs. Truman: November 20, 2012 || QU won, 62-60 (Quincy, Ill.)
Series Streak: Truman – W7 (W3 in Quincy)

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - The final game of the 2015-16 regular season has surfaced for the Truman State University men's basketball team, and important seeding implications for the upcoming Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament are on the line in a trip to arch-rival Quincy at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday (Feb. 25) night.

The Bulldogs, winners of two straight to improve to 19-8 overall (11-6 GLVC), will go for the season sweep of the Hawks, who have also won two straight and sit at 18-8 overall (12-5 GLVC). On the line is the No. 6 seed in next week's GLVC tournament, as, for Truman, just one of two outcomes are in play – 1) win and get the No. 6 seed; 2) lose and get the No. 7 seed. Either way, the Bulldogs will host a GLVC first-round game in General John J. Pershing Arena this Sunday (Feb. 28) afternoon at 3 p.m., against an opponent yet to be determined.

Two other big milestones are also on the line for the Bulldogs, including the program's eighth 20-win season in the 96 seasons of men's basketball at the University. A win on Thursday would mark the third straight 20-win campaign, denoting the only time in program history that the team has gone back-to-back-to-back with 20-win seasons. Also on the line is a chance to extend the longest winning streak by either team in the all-time series, as Truman's current seven-game victory stretch against the Hawks broke both a six-game winning streak by both sides with the Bulldogs' 91-76 win in Kirksville earlier this season on December 15. Six Bulldogs finished in double-figures offensively, led by 18 points apiece from senior Cole Myers and redshirt junior Connor Erickson. Truman never trailed after the 19:24 mark of the opening half and built upon a five-point halftime lead into the 15-point final margin. The Bulldogs shot 54% from the field for the game and hit 9-of-21 three-pointers.

The last time out, Truman absolutely blitzed the conference's other "Hawks" on Saturday afternoon, as the Bulldogs shot 69% in the first half and drained eight three-balls en route to beating Rockhurst by an 84-74 score in Kansas City. Redshirt senior Andrew Vander Zwaag scored 17 points for the second straight game off the bench, while redshirt junior Cory Myers added 16 points, nine rebounds, and five assists in 35 minutes.

Thursday night will mark the 118^th all-time meeting between the two Missouri Highway 6 rivals, with Quincy clinging on to a 59-58 lead in the series. The Hawks have a decided edge in games played in the Gem City, leading 36-18, but Truman has had the better of the set lately, including three straight wins in Pepsi Arena. Last season, the Bulldogs defeated QU 103-85 in the regular season finale as well, as the purple and white were fueled by then-senior Isaac Gardner's six three-pointers and 23 total points.

Chris Foster is in his second season as the head coach of the Bulldogs and is in his third season with the program overall. He has a career record of 39-18 (.684) and was a former standout guard at the University of Northern Iowa, where he ranks among the program's top-10 in games played, assists, and three-pointers. Foster was a member of UNI's 2003 and 2004 NCAA Div. I tournament squads. He is assisted by Mike Annese, who returned to the program this season after a one-year stint at Minnesota-Crookston, and graduate assistant Nik Koprivica.

About the Bulldogs:
Truman checks into Thursday night looking to build upon its recent road success, having gone 4-1 in its last five league games. The Bulldogs are 6-3 in true road games this season and an overall 10-5 away from Kirksville in the 2015-16 campaign.

The Bulldogs are in possession of the conference' No. 5 scoring offense (82.9 ppg) and No. 6 scoring defense (75.6 ppg), while also holding the top spot in both three-pointers made per game (9.7) and turnover margin (+5.0). Truman also ranks in the GLVC's top-3 in steals per game (9.0/2^nd), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.41/2^nd), and three-point percentage (38.0%/3^rd).

Individually, the Bulldogs have five players averaging double-figures offensively, led by senior guard Cole Myers' 12.5 ppg. He also tops the squad at 4.7 rebounds per game while having active hands with 36 steals.

Checking in right behind him is junior guard Kyle Kanaskie, who is shooting 42% from three-point range en route to a 12.3 ppg average. Connor Erickson (11.8 ppg), Cory Myers (11.7 ppg), and Andrew Vander Zwaag (10.9 ppg) also check in with double-figures.

The Bulldogs have pitched a predominantly eight-man rotation through the past four games, with freshman Jake Velky (7.9 ppg/41% 3FG), junior Billy Daniel (7.2 ppg/4.3 rpg), junior Dwight Sistrunk, Jr. (9.0 ppg/4.1 apg), and redshirt freshman Nikola Pesic (3.8 ppg/2.3 rpg) seeing extended minutes for the purple and white down the stretch.

Opponent Breakdown- Quincy:

Quincy enters Thursday night with an 18-8 overall record, including a 12-2 mark in games played at home. The Hawks are 7-1 in GLVC play on their home court, with the only loss coming two weekends ago at the buzzer in overtime against Wisconsin-Parkside.
The Hawks have five regulars also averaging double-figures offensively, as the brown and gold have the league's No. 1 scoring offense (87.0 ppg) and top steals per game mark (9.1) – barely edging out Truman at 9.0 steals/game.
Junior Joseph Tagarelli leads the team at 16.4 ppg, while also averaging 6.3 rebounds per game. He led QU with a 24-point, seven-rebound effort in Pershing Arena earlier this season.
Evan McGaughey (14.3 ppg/8.2 rpg), Herm Senor II (11.2 ppg/5.0 apg), Von Washington III (10.9 ppg), and Godson Eneogwe (10.1 ppg) are also atop the 10 ppg line.
Marty Bell is in his 13^th season at the Quincy helm and has a 213-158 record as the program's head coach. He also serves as QU's Director of Athletics.

Tourney Time:
Only three of the GLVC's top-12 seeds are set in stone entering the final week of regular season action, and, in total, three seeds remain up for grabs with play on both Wednesday and Thursday nights this week.

Entering the week, Bellarmine (No. 1), Southern Indiana (No. 8), and Rockhurst (No. 9) know where they sit entering first-round action this Sunday, while Wisconsin-Parkside knows it has locked up a first-round bye. With just a single win, both Drury (vs. S&T) and Indianapolis (vs. Saint Joseph's on Wednesday) can punch their tickets to the quarterfinals as well.

A combination of Lewis, Quincy, and Truman will shake out in the 5-7 slots, with McKendree (5-12), UMSL (5-12), and UIS (5-12) all left eligible for slots 10-12. Missouri S&T, Saint Joseph's, and Maryville also remain alive for the 11^th and/or 12^th seeds.

The tournament begins with four "play-in" games on Sunday, Feb. 28, with seeds 5-8 hosting seeds 9-12 on campus sites in opening round action. The top-four seeds will get a first-round bye straight into the quarterfinals, which begin on Friday, March 4, in St. Charles, Mo., at Family Arena.

If the tournament started before Thursday night's action, Truman would be the No. 7 seed, hosting No. 10 seed McKendree in the opening round on Feb. 28.

Hand Outs:
A pair of Truman junior guards find themselves amongst the NCAA's elite, as Dwight Sistrunk, Jr. and Cory Myers are just two of 52 active Div. II players to have dished out more than 300 career assists. Of the 52, only 13 are sophomores or juniors.

Sistrunk Jr., who has handed out 73 helpers this season to go along with the 282 accumulated during his first two seasons of collegiate ball at William Jewell for a 351 total, and Myers, who has 322 overall during his 88 games as a Bulldog, rank 34^th and 37^th, respectively on the active assist chart.

Truman is one of just five NCAA Div. II programs to feature two active players with more than 300 career assists, joining Merrimack, Wheeling Jesuit, Delta State, and Western Oregon in that club.

Foster Passes His Predecessor:
With his 39^th victory as the Bulldogs' head coach on Saturday, Chris Foster moved past the program's last coach, Matt Woodley, despite coaching 25 fewer games. Foster, now 39-18 along the Truman sideline, became the seventh-winningest coach in program history with Saturday's victory, and is next in pursuit of the program's first head coach – H.L. McWilliams, who won 44 games in six seasons from 1919-1925.

His .684 winning percentage also gives him the current top line amongst all previous Truman coaches.

Pick Your Poison:
As balanced as the Bulldogs have been all season long in scoring with five players in double-figures, a second glance is typically needed when looking at the Truman scoring lineup in conference-only games. Truman has six players averaging at least 9.9 points per game through 17 league games, but it's how tight the numbers are that show the balance of the Bulldog offense.

14.2 / 12.2 / 11.9 / 11.3 / 11.2 / 9.9

That sextet consists of – in scoring order – Cole Myers, Kyle Kanaskie, Andrew Vander Zwaag, Connor Erickson, Cory Myers, and Dwight Sistrunk, Jr.

Bulldog Tweet-ables (140 characters or less):

#MBBHistory: Thursday's game will mark the 2,233^rd in program history. TSU has a 1,149-1,083 overall record (.515) in 96^th season.
#NoLeadTooBig: The Bulldogs have come from 10 points down to win twice this season (CU, 11/28; UMSL, 1/21).
#UniWatch: 'Dogs have three uni combos this season – 13-4 in whites, 4-3 in purples, and 2-1 in anthracite greys.
#ForceTheMistakes: In 27 games this season, Truman has had equal/fewer turnovers than opponents 23 times (18-5 in those games).

"Three"sy-Peesy:
Truman has seen sustained success from distance throughout program history, with the Bulldogs having made at least one three-pointer in every game since Feb. 12, 2003 – a stretch of 362 consecutive games.

Checking the Career Charts:
Four Bulldog regulars are creeping up on a handful of career individual charts, as senior Andrew Vander Zwaag, senior Cole Myers, junior Cory Myers, and junior Kyle Kanaskie have each seen their all-time numbers climb in recent outings.

Vander Zwaag moved past 200 career triples for his career last Saturday, jumping past Austin Kirby (2003-07) and into a tie with Boyd Printy (1989-92) for fifth-place on the career char with 201. In order to catch recent-graduate Isaac Gardner's fourth-place total of 237, the Bulldogs would need a sustained postseason run (which, would likely need to be fueled by a handful of AVZ 3's).

Meanwhile, the Myers twins continue to race each other up the career steals chart, as Cole holds a one-steal lead on Cory at 132-131. The elder (by athletic year) is now eighth all-time, with the younger (again, by athletic year) in ninth all-time. Jason Reinberg (1996-2000) is seventh on the all-time list with 136.

Cory (a redshirt junior) has also moved past Banks Estridge (2005-09) and Jason Reinberg (1996-2000) into a tie for fifth-place on the all-time assist chart. He has matched Chip Sodemann's total of 322, set from 2002-2006, with Jimmy Gooden's fourth-place mark of 356 (1984-86) next in line.

Kanaskie, meanwhile, has penciled his name onto the program's all-time free throw percentage list, as he is now 107-for-122 in his career at the stripe (87.7%). He is currently first overall, leading Tom Norton (2009-13) – the current leader – at 85.8% (211-for-246).

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will break out the home white kits one more time this coming Sunday (Feb. 28) afternoon at 3 p.m. when they host a first-round GLVC tournament game in Kirksville. The opponent is still TBD and will be announced following the conclusion of league play on Thursday night.

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Players Mentioned

#03 Isaac Gardner: G; 6' 4"; Redshirt Senior

#40 Billy Daniel: F; 6' 6"; Junior

#32 Connor Erickson: F; 6' 8"; Redshirt Junior

#22 Kyle Kanaskie: G; 5' 11"; Junior

#11 Cole Myers: G; 6' 3"; Senior

#12 Cory Myers: G; 6' 3"; Redshirt Junior

#01 Nikola Pesic: G/F; 6' 5"; Redshirt Freshman

#45 Dwight Sistrunk, Jr.: G; 5' 11"; Redshirt Junior

#30 Andrew Vander Zwaag: G; 6' 3"; Redshirt Senior

#24 Jake Velky: G; 6' 1"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#03 Isaac Gardner
: 6' 4"; Redshirt Senior
: G

#40 Billy Daniel
: 6' 6"; Junior
: F

#32 Connor Erickson
: 6' 8"; Redshirt Junior
: F

#22 Kyle Kanaskie
: 5' 11"; Junior
: G

#11 Cole Myers
: 6' 3"; Senior
: G

#12 Cory Myers
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Junior
: G

#01 Nikola Pesic
: 6' 5"; Redshirt Freshman
: G/F

#45 Dwight Sistrunk, Jr.
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Junior
: G

#30 Andrew Vander Zwaag
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Senior
: G

#24 Jake Velky
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: G