GAMES 26 & 27: TRUMAN VS. WILLIAM JEWELL | TRUMAN VS. ROCKHURST
	Truman Bulldogs 2016-17 Record: 18-7, 10-5 GLVC Coach: Chris Foster, Third season Roster | Schedule | Statistics
	William Jewell Cardinals 2016-17 Record: 8-15, 4-11 GLVC Coach: Larry Holley, 38th season Roster | Schedule | Statistics
	Rockhurst Hawks 2016-17 Record: 14-9, 8-7 GLVC Coach: Drew Diener, Second season Roster | Schedule | Statistics
	Game Information When? February 16, 2017 | 7:30 p.m. February 18, 2017 | 3 p.m. Where? Kirksville, Mo. | Pershing Arena Follow Along Live Stats, GLVCSN, 104.7 KRES Twitter Truman Athletics | #BewareOfDog Truman Men's Basketball

Truman Game Notes (.PDF)

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Three more home games separate the Truman men's basketball team from the 2017 GLVC Basketball Championships, but obviously the Bulldogs have some business to take care of before the postseason arrives. The final three regular season games inside Pershing Arena will be rematches against West Division foes from earlier in the season including William Jewell on Thursday (7:30 p.m.), Rockhurst on Saturday (3 p.m.) and Quincy the following Thursday (7:30 p.m.). The first time around, Truman went 2-1 in those contests with the loss being a one-point decision at Quincy, 91-90.
 
This past week, the Bulldogs split their two matchups with a 94-73 loss at Lewis and a huge 64-61 win at Wisconsin-Parkside the following Saturday. Truman handed the Rangers their first home loss of the season (12-1) and just the ninth since the beginning of the 2012-13 season (63-9). Connor Erickson played like a man possessed and was an absolute force in the paint despite playing with a limp for most of the game. The Blue Valley North product finished with 20 points (9-of-13 FG, 2-for-2 FT), seven rebounds, six blocks, and two steals. Those six swats are a career high for Erickson and are tied for third in program history with Mike Carlson (Jan. 24, 2013 vs. Nebraska-Kearney).
 
William Jewell (8-15, 4-11 GLVC) is currently tied for fifth in the West while Rockhurst (14-9, 8-7 GLVC) is tied with Drury for third in the division. The Cardinals have been winners in just two of their last five and the Hawks have won four of their last six. William Jewell actually hosted McKendree in a makeup game on Monday and dispatched the Bearcats with a score of 87-81.

Scouting the Cardinals
William Jewell features one of only two scorers in the Great Lakes Valley Conference averaging at least 20 points. His name is Patrick Whelan and joining him in that elite group is Jeril Taylor of Southern Indiana. The junior from Manchester, England has gone for 30 or more four times and 20 or more in 13 different games. The 6-5 guard has played the sixth-most minutes in the GLVC with 826, or 35.9 per game. Whelan is one of four Cardinals averaging double-figures along with Jorge Perez-Laham (14.4), Larry Fitzgerald (10.9) and Emil Ostafiiciuc (10.0). Ostafiiciuc is the team's top rebounder with 6.8 boards per contest while Perez-Laham is the squad's best assist man with an average of four dimes per game (tied for 10th in the GLVC). William Jewell is in the bottom half of the conference when it comes to scoring offense and scoring defense. The Cardinals are only scoring 77.4 points per game (12th) and are giving up 82.5 per contest (13th). Their scoring margin of -5.1 is last in the league and they have given up at least 90 points eight times this year (1-7). That one win was against Saint Joseph's on Feb. 11 (117-114).

Scouting the Hawks
Rockhurst boasts a trio of scorers putting up at least 10 points per game including Kaleb Warner (15.2), Alex Hagan (14.5) and Malachi Nix (13.0). Hagan recently joined Cory Myers on the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team for Division II's fourth district and is the Hawks' Windex man with 8.3 boards per game. Dishing out the most assists for Rockhurst is Nix with 90 or 3.9 per contest (12th in the GLVC). The Hawks are definitely a scrappy bunch as their scoring margin is the closest to zero in all of the conference at -0.5. In 2016-17, four of Rockhurst's losses have come by single digits, but10 of its 14 wins have been by less than 10 points. The Hawks have had trouble scoring points as their scoring offense is third-to-last in the GLVC at 75.8. Not only that, but they are 10th in the league in scoring defense with an average of 76.3 points allowed per contest.

Last Time Out (William Jewell): Truman 95, William Jewell 80
Truman won its fifth game in a row and led for all 40 minutes to start 2-0 in conference play for the first time since the 1994-95 season. The Bulldogs boasted five scorers in double-figures led by Nathan Messer's career-high 28 points, which were the most by a Bulldog since Cole Myers put up 34 in Kirksville on Feb. 11 of last season against Wisconsin-Parkside. After the sophomore transfer, Connor Erickson turned in his and Truman's second double-double of the year with 18 points and 10 rebounds to go with three steals and a block. The other three scorers with at least 10 points included Jake Velky with 15, Dwight Sistrunk, Jr. with 11 and Kyle Kanaskie with 10 off the bench. Sistrunk Jr. was the ringleader in assists with six while Cory Myers was responsible for seven steals, which tied the program record set by Scott Matthews on Nov. 20, 1993.

Last Time Out (Rockhurst): Truman 72, Rockhurst 58
Leading 35-30 at the half, Truman took all of the game's momentum by scoring the first 16 points of the second period to go up by 21, 51-30. After that, the margin was never smaller than 10, and the Bulldogs won with a final score of 72-58. Leading the charge for the Bulldogs was Cory Myers with a game/season-high 19 points (12 in the second half), seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Dwight Sistrunk, Jr. and Connor Erickson also turned in big nights with 14 points apiece while Sistrunk Jr. added six times, five boards and three steals. Zach Fischer provided 15 huge bench minutes with nine points, eight rebounds and one block. The Bulldogs held the Hawks to just 36.8 percent shooting from the field with 21 makes in 57 attempts.

GLVC Tournament
Right now, Truman is second in the West Division and a game behind Quincy for first place. Both of those squads have three games left, the last of which will be against each other in Pershing Arena on Feb. 23 for the regular-season finale. For the 2017 GLVC Basketball Championships, the top four conference records, regardless of division, will get a bye and head straight to the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. for the quarterfinals on March 2. Seeds five through eight will host seeds nine through 12 on their campus and the winner of those four games will then play the top four seeds in the quarterfinal matchups. As of right now, the Bulldogs are the seventh seed, which means a game in Pershing Arena on Sunday, Feb. 26. Nothing is set in stone, though, with a lot of basketball left to play yet.

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