ST. LOUIS - Zach Fischer (pictured) wanted to make sure people would remember his first career start as a Truman Bulldog. Saturday night vs. Trevecca Nazarene, the redshirt senior racked up 24 points and 11 rebounds for his second career double-double to lead the Purple and White past the Trojans, 84-73.
Truman has now won five-consecutive season openers while Trevecca Nazarene dropped its season opener for the first time since doing so against the Bulldogs on Nov. 13, 2015, also in St. Louis (97-66).
As mentioned above, Fischer turned in his second ever double-double with four steals while shooting 10-of-12 from the floor, 2-for-2 from behind the arc and 2-of-4 at the free throw line in 33 minutes of action. Also in double-figures were
Jake Velky (23 points, five rebounds and four assists),
Jack Green (14 points, four assists, one rebound, and one steal) and
Taurin Hughes (10 points, two rebounds and one assist).
It was a tale of two halves as Truman was outscored by three, 32-29, in the first before scoring 14 more points than Trevecca Nazarene in the second, 55-41. During that time, the Bulldogs improved their field goal percentage from 37.9 percent to 59.3, three-point field goal percentage from 28.6 percent to 46.2 and free throw percentage from 50 percent to 68.
Truman opened the game with a 15-2 run in which five different players scored and the Bulldogs made six of their eight shot attempts from the field. However, Trevecca Nazarene answered with a 16-0 spurt of its own and had a three-point advantage, 18-15, with 11:26 to play in the half. From there until the end of the period, the play was much more balanced as the Bulldogs and Trojans each scored 14 points and the margin was still three heading into the locker room.
Out of the break, the Trojans rattled off seven of the first nine points to push the lead to eight, 39-31, their biggest of the game. The Bulldogs took it in stride, though, and over the next 10 and a half minutes, outscored their opponent by 21, 32-11. With 5:39 to play, Truman was up 63-50, and had a 13-point advantage for the second time. After that, Trevecca Nazarene was never closer than six, 71-65, before the final margin of 11.
Next up, Truman will continue play in the GLVC/G-MAC Challenge on Sunday against Cedarville with tip-off set for 1 p.m.
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