LEBANON, Ill. - Entering Thursday's GLVC showdown at McKendree, the Truman State University men's basketball team was on a four-game losing streak and had surrendered over 93 points per contest during that span. The Bulldogs seemed to turn a page defensively and held the Bearcats nearly 20 points below their average en route to an 80-70 road victory inside the Harry M. Statham Sports Center.

Truman (4-4, 1-1 GLVC) improved to 5-0 all time vs. McKendree (5-2, 1-1 GLVC) and has won each meeting in the series by an average of almost 17 points per game. In the two teams' most-recent matchup, the Bulldogs were paced by double-doubles from both Zach Fischer and Brodric Thomas. Fischer and Thomas became the first Purple and White pair with double-doubles since Mike Carlson and Reed Mells did it vs. Missouri-St. Louis on Jan. 16, 2014.

Thomas secured the third double-double of his career (first at Truman) with a stat-sheet stuffing 19 points, 11 rebounds (personal best), seven assists (personal best), and three blocks in 37 minutes of action. Fischer's sixth career double-double and fifth in eight outings consisted of 22 points, 10 boards, four blocks (personal best), one dime, and one steal in 33 minutes on the court. Those two combined to shoot 17-of-28 from the field or a red-hot 60.7 percent. Jack Green represented the third Bulldog in double-figures with 12 points on 4-for-11 shooting.

Defensively, Truman brought its lunch pail to work on Thursday night. The Bulldogs' nine blocks are tied for the second-most in program history (11 vs. Missouri S&T on Feb. 9, 1994) and are the most since nine vs. Missouri Southern on Jan. 14, 1995. The Bulldogs locked down McKendree's Nolan Gerling, the defending GLVC Player of the Week, to just six points and three rebounds in 18 minutes. The Bearcats shot just 38.6 percent (27-of-70) from the floor including only 35.5 percent (11-for-31) in the first half.

Truman was on a mission from the get go as it opened the game with a 19-4 run over the first six and a half minutes. Five different Bulldogs found the scoring column during that stretch including five points apiece by Fischer and Thomas. The closest McKendree could get for the rest of the half was nine on three different occasions including 19-10, 21-12 and 24-15. The visitors stood strong, though, pushed their advantage to as many as 20, 42-22, and went into the locker room up by 15, 44-29.

It was much of the same to begin the second stanza as Truman's biggest lead of the night came with 12:03 to play when the margin was 24, 65-41. However, McKendree didn't go away quietly and outscored the Bulldogs 25-10 over the next 8:55 to pull within nine once again, 75-66. The spread was nine once more at 77-68, but the Purple and White held on for the 10-point decision in their favor.

Truman won't play a game for nine days until the Quincy Subway Holiday Classic on Dec. 16-17. The Bulldogs will face Ohio Valley that Saturday at 1 p.m. and Missouri Southern State the following Sunday, also at 1 p.m.

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