KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Thursday night inside Pershing Arena, the Truman men's basketball team scored 51 points on 17 three-pointers (tied for second-most in school history) and proved why it's one of the best three-point shooting teams in all of Division II. The Bulldogs cashed in on 53.1 percent (17-of-32) of their looks from behind the arc en route to the 33-point beatdown, their most lopsided win over the Panthers in program history.

With its fourth win in a row, Truman improved to 16-4 overall and 8-2 in the GLVC while Drury fell to 13-5 on the season and 6-4 in league play. Not to mention the fact that head coach, Chris Foster, is now 3-0 against the Panthers and the Bulldogs gave him that victory with yet another unselfish effort. The Purple and White assisted on 27 of their 32 field goals, their seventh-most dimes all time, and surpassed 20 helpers in a game for the eighth time this year. In the Foster era, his teams have 11 of the top 22 marks for triples made in a game and seven of the top 14 spots for assists in a game.

Overall, Truman connected on 56.1 percent (32-for-57) of its looks from the field, its highest percentage at home vs. a GLVC opponent since Missouri-St. Louis on Feb. 28, 2016 (60.4 percent/32-of-53). The Bulldogs haven't beaten a conference opponent that badly since Feb. 12, 2015 when they defeated Saint Joseph's by 37, 112-75. The good guys entered this affair with the second-best three-point shooting percentage in the nation (44.3) and that was upped to 44.8 after the 33-point decision. If the season ended right now, that number would be first in school history by more than three percent.

Individually, Truman was led by an absurd night from Nathan Messer. The Navy transfer scored a game-high 23 points (17 in the second half) while shooting 8-for-13 from the floor, including a foolish 7-of-11 from deep, to go with three rebounds, one assist and a block. That marks the third time this season that the St. Louis native has splashed in seven treys and third instance that he has made eight of his field goal attempts. Behind Messer, Kyle Kanaskie looked as comfortable as he has all season while he continues to rehab from a preseason knee injury. Kanaskie poured in 19 points, 16 in the second half, with seven makes (ties career high) in nine field-goal attempts, five (ties personal best) of which were from distance. The 5-11 guard hasn't dropped that many points since he put up 22 on Jan. 28, 2016 at Missouri S&T, this Saturday's opponent.

Jake Velky faced foul trouble much of the game, but still managed to be the final Bulldog in double-figures with 13, nine of which came from three-point land. Running the show once again were Dwight Sistrunk, Jr. and Cory Myers with eight assists and six assists, respectively. Truman improved to 9-0 in 2016-17 when those two combine to dish out nine or more dimes. Connor Erickson was the leader on the glass with seven rebounds to go with a game-high four steals. All in all, 11 of the 13 players that saw action found the scoring column and all 13 that suited up earned playing time.

In the first seven minutes and change, the two teams exchanged the lead four times and tied twice before Truman turned up the heat. The Bulldogs proceeded to score 23 of the next 28 points to go up by 18, 35-17, with 4:47 to go until halftime. During that run, eight players found the scoring column for the Purple and White as they made eight of their 11 shot attempts. Truman headed into the locker room with a comfortable 19-point advantage, 38-19, and held Drury to just 27.3-percent (6-for-22) shooting in the first half with an astounding 16 turnovers and only four assists. For the game, the Bulldogs scored 30 points (30-14) off 23 Panther turnovers, the most for a Truman opponent this year.

Out of the break, the two squads were each responsible for 10 points until the 16:08 mark and the home team maintained its 19-point margin. The Bulldogs then churned out another big run, this time to the tune of 32-11, and were up by 40, 80-40, at the 7:29 mark. 13 of Kanaskie's 19 came in that span and he was one of six players to score. From that point on, the Purple and White would lead by as many as 43, 88-45, and never led by less than 32.

Next up, as mentioned above, Truman will host Missouri S&T on Saturday with tip set for 3 p.m.

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