KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Having lost two games in a row for the first time all season, the Truman men's basketball played with a short-term memory on Saturday afternoon against Saint Joseph's. The Bulldogs dispatched the Pumas and did so handily with a 19-point margin, 96-77, inside Pershing Arena.

Truman ended its two-game skid to improve to 17-6 overall and 9-4 in the GLVC while Saint Joseph's fell to 9-14 on the year, including 3-10 in league play. Less than 48 hours after putting up a career-high 22 points, Connor Erickson bested that with 24 more on Saturday on 10-of-13 shooting (career-high 10 field goals made), 4-for-5 from the free throw line, and was able to do anything he wanted with the rock in his hands. Erickson also had four rebounds, two blocks and two steals in just 20 minutes on the court. Behind the big man, three more Bulldogs scored in double-figures including Dwight Sistrunk, Jr. (12), Zach Fischer (11) and Jake Velky (10). Velky led all players in assists with five.

After missing action for the first time since his sophomore year (81 games), the Purple and White were glad to have Cory Myers back on the court. No. 12 was held to just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting, but he did his damage in nearly every other category. Myers registered nine boards (game high), four dimes and two swipes (game high). As a team, Truman had nine steals and registered at least nine in that category for the 10th time this season. The good guys are 9-1 in those games. Nikola Pesic was right outside of double-figures with nine points while Kyle Kanaskie and Billy Daniel each chipped in eight as well. All of Kanaskie's came in the first six minutes and 48 seconds of the day thanks to two triples and a layup on back-to-back-to-back buckets.

Defensively, Truman held Saint Joseph's to just 43.7 percent (31-for-71) shooting including an ice-cold 12.5 percent (3-of-24) from behind the arc. That's the worst a Bulldog opponent has shot from three-point land with at least 10 attempts in over eight years since Jan. 28, 2009 (Pittsburg State was 1-for-13, 7.7 percent). In those last two losses, the Bulldogs were held below 50 percent from the field, but Saturday was a different story as they cashed in on 50.7 (36-for-71) percent of their looks. In the team head-to-head, the Bulldogs controlled the action in nearly every category including points off turnovers (24-12), second-chance points (18-12), bench points (42-35), points in the paint (50-46), rebounds (42-36), and assists (15-5).

In the beginning, there were four ties, but no lead changes in the first two minutes and change. At that point, it was tied 9-9 with 17:40 to play until the break. The home team then scored 14 of the next 19 points to go up by nine, 23-14. From then until the intermission, the lead was never smaller than seven (23-16 and 25-18) for Truman and grew to as many as 15 twice (42-27 and 47-32). At the break, the Bulldogs were ahead by 13, 47-34. Out of halftime, the hosts rattled off 22 points to their guest's 11, and had a 24-point advantage, 69-45. During that opening spurt, six different Bulldogs found the scoring column led by six of Erickson's 24. After that, the margin was never slimmer than 17 when the Purple and White had emptied the bench.

Truman now gets set for its final road trip of the regular season when it travels to Lewis on Thursday (7:30 p.m.) and No. 22 Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday (3 p.m.).

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