KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Absurd. That's the best way to describe the month of February for Connor Erickson. Saturday, he was at it again with 25 points and 16 rebounds, both of which are career highs, as the Truman men's basketball team secured a Senior Day victory over Rockhurst, 95-84.

With their third-straight triumph, the Bulldogs (20-7, 12-5 GLVC) captured a fourth-consecutive 20-win season while the Hawks (14-11, 8-9 GLVC) have been on the short end of the stick in three straight. Since flipping the calendar to February, Erickson has averaged 20.2 points, 8.5 boards, 1.7 blocks, and one steal per game while shooting a blistering 60 percent (48-of-80) from the field and 78.1 percent (25-for-32) at the free throw line. Saturday, he scored those personal-best 25 points in just 28 minutes thanks to 9-of-17 shooting.

Behind Connor, four more Bulldogs reached double-figures including Jake Velky (20), Zach Fischer (19), Cory Myers (11), and Dwight Sistrunk, Jr. (11). Myers paced Truman in assists with eight, four different players had a block and Nikola Pesic was the ringleader in steals with four (career high). Fischer executed his role to perfection as 17 of his personal-best 19 points came in the second half on a spotless 6-for-6 shooting clinic that included two makes in two attempts from deep and a trio of free throws. Velky also came to life in the second period with 13 of his 20 because of three triples and four free throws.

As a team, the good guys shot 51.7 percent (31-of-60), including a ridiculous 63.3 percent (19-for-30) in the second half. The Bulldogs found themselves at or above 50 percent in that category for a 14th time this year (12-2 record). Meanwhile, the visitors were held to just 37.1 percent (13-of-35) in the final 20 minutes. In the team head-to-head, just about every major category was decided by five or less besides points in the paint, which were 40-26 in favor of Truman. The Bulldogs' 62 points in the second half are the most they have ever scored in a half against a GLVC opponent.

The Bulldogs were off to a slow start as they trailed the Hawks by as many as 12, 13-1, in the first three minutes and change. Truman then scored eight of the next 10 points to pull within six, 15-9, but Rockhurst pushed its advantage back to 12 three more times (23-11, 26-14 and 28-16). After that final 12-point margin, the home team rattled off a 13-5 run to cut it to four, 33-29, with just over four and a half minutes to play until the break. However, the Hawks ended the half with a 9-4 spurt and were ahead of the Bulldogs by nine, 42-33, heading into the locker room.

Out of the intermission, Rockhurst scored four-straight points to take its biggest lead of the day at 13, 46-33. Truman responded with 16 of the next 23 points to make it a four-point margin, 53-49. During that stretch, four different Bulldogs found the scoring column led by six apiece from Sistrunk Jr. and Velky. The seesaw battle continued, though, as the Hawks rattled off 10 of 14 points and had built their advantage back to 10, 63-53, at the 9:24 mark. That's when Erickson and Fischer went to work and scored 14 of Truman's next 24 points in a 24-6 spurt that lasted just over six minutes. The run ended with 12 straight by the home team and just like that, it was ahead by eight, 77-69, with 3:16 to go. In the midst of that chaos, Rockhurst's coach was given a technical foul and the momentum had completely switched sides. From then until the end of the game, the margin was never smaller than six before the final decision of 11 points.

Next up for Truman is the highly-anticipated rematch with Quincy on Thursday in the regular-season finale with tip set for 7:30 p.m. In Illinois on Saturday, Quincy took care of business with a 96-86 win over William Jewell, so it stays one game ahead of the Bulldogs in the West Division. When these two teams met in December, Quincy won by one, 91-90, and Nathan Messer's three at the buzzer came up begging.

#BewareOfDog