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KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The next step of Truman's postseason journey is here and it's the 2017 Division II NCAA Tournament. That means the Bulldogs are one of only 64 teams left from eight different regions across the country. The Purple and White are making their first appearance in the field of 64 in 11 years since the 2005-06 season. Truman's game against Ferris State on Saturday (2:30 p.m. eastern time) will be 11 years to the day of its last game in the NCAA Tournament when it fell to Central Missouri by a score of 67-63 in overtime on March 11, 2006. That game was played when the Bulldogs were a member of not only the MIAA, but the South Central Region as well.
Fast forward to this week and Truman (22-9) enters the tourney as the No. 7 seed in the Midwest Region, while Ferris State (27-4) is the No. 2 seed and is coming off its third-straight Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Championship. Ferris State's path to the title included Hillsdale (87-84), Michigan Tech (79-71) and Ashland (80-79). In the GLVC Tournament, the Bulldogs defeated Missouri S&T in the first round (102-83) and upset No. 12 Southern Indiana in the quarterfinals (69-68) before falling to last year's league champion, Lewis, in the semifinals (85-75).
Redshirt senior,
Cory Myers, was one of five student-athletes named to the All-Tournament team and couldn't have been more deserving of the honor. In the Bulldogs' three tournament games, Myers literally put the team on his back by averaging 28.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.7 steals while shooting 59.1 percent (26-of-44) from the field and 66.7 percent (16-for-24) from behind the arc. With this honor, the 6-3 guard continues to add to a laundry list of accomplishments during his final go-around in the Purple and White.
Scouting Ferris State
No. 14 Ferris State is in year No. four under the leadership of head coach, Andy Bronkema. During that time, the Bulldogs have experienced quite a bit of success as they have an overall record of 84-39 (.683 winning percentage) and a GLIAC mark of 56-31 (.644). In fact, he and Foster are two of the best young coaches that the Midwest Region has to offer. Foster's record at Truman is up to 63-28 overall (.692) and 35-19 in the GLVC (.648). Combined, the two coaches have collected nearly 150 wins (147-67) and a success rate of just under 70 percent (.687). Not too shabby.
During the 2016-17 season, Ferris State has had three separate winning streaks of at least five games including 15 from Dec. 10 - Feb. 4, seven from Feb. 11 - March 5 (current) and five from Nov. 7 - 22. The Bulldogs have been led by a quartet of scorers averaging at least 10 points per game including sophomore center, Zack Hankins (14.8), senior guard, Quentin Ruff (14.5), junior guard, Drew Cushingberry (11.7), and junior guard, Peter Firlik (10.6). Hankins averages a double-double with 10.3 rebounds per night while the offense runs through Cushingberry and his 3.6 assists per contest.
Young Guns
Both head coaches,
Chris Foster of Truman and Andy Bronkema of Ferris State, are currently at their first stops as head coaches. Bronkema is in his fourth season in Big Rapids, Mich. while this is year No. three for Foster in Kirksville. As mentioned above, since the beginning of the 2013-14 season when Bronkema took over the reins at Ferris State, he and Foster have proved to be two of the best young coaches that the Midwest Region has to offer. During his time guiding Purple and White, Foster has improved each year with win totals of 20, 21 and now 22 this season. On the other side, in Bronkema's first year, Ferris State finished with 10 wins, but that's a distant memory now. In the three seasons since, Bronkema has turned in win totals of 23, 24 and 27.
Get Your Dancing Shoes Out
Truman and Ferris State have combined to make 19 appearances in the NCAA Tournament including seven and 12, respectively. While Ferris State has made reservations for the event three years in a row, Truman will be playing in the sport's biggest tournament for the first time in 11 years. All-time in the NCAA Tournament, Truman is 8-7 (.533) with a program-best four wins in 1999 when it made the Final Four, but lost to Metro State of Colorado by a score of 69-65. On the other side, Ferris State has accumulated a record of 11-12 (.478)Â in the big dance including five Sweet Sixteen appearances (last in 2016) and one in the Elite Eight (1988) when it lost to Alaska-Anchorage, 97-85.
Running the Show
Both of these teams boast two of the best point guards in the Midwest Region. For Truman, it's redshirt senior,
Dwight Sistrunk, Jr., and for Ferris State, it's junior, Drew Cushingberry. Amongst the region's best, Sistrunk Jr. is fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.54), tied for 12th in total assists (127) and tied for 15th in assists per game (4.1) while Cushingberry is seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.47). The Des Moines, Iowa native has turned in five or more assists in 12 games and Truman boasts a record of 10-2 in those contests. Cushingberry has registered five or more dimes in a game nine times and Ferris State didn't lose any of those games. On Feb. 27, Cushingberry earned All-GLIAC First Team recognition for the first time in his career.
Something's Gotta Give
This matchup will pit Truman's second-best scoring offense in the GLVC (87.1 points per game) against Ferris State's GLIAC-best scoring defense (73.3). Not only is Truman one of the most potent offensive teams in the GLVC, but it is one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country and has proven that all season long. Amongst national rankings, the Purple and White are second in three-point field goal percentage (.432), ninth in total triples made (332), 13th in three-pointers made per game (10.7), and 21st in total treys attempted (768). Putting this year's team in a historical perspective as far as program history, it is first in total points, first in points per game, first in field goal percentage, first in three-pointers made, first in three-pointers attempted, first in three-point field goal percentage, first in free throw percentage, second in field goals made, fifth in free throws made, eighth in field goals attempted, and eighth in free throws attempted. Ferris State makes its living in the paint as it is first in the U.S. in blocked shots per game (6.5), first in total stuffs (201) and 16th in defensive rebounds per game (28.7).
Sophomore Sensation
GLIAC Player of the Year, Zach Hankins, became the first sophomore in league history to earn that honor. Hankins' 124 blocks are good for the most in GLIAC history and amongst the best in the country, he is first in total blocks, second in blocks per game (4.0), sixth in field goal percentage (.647), eighth in double-doubles (16), 11th in total boards (319), 19th in total rebounds per contest (10.3), 27th in defensive boards per game (6.9), and 27th in offensive rebounds per night (3.4). A Bevo Francis National Small College Player of the Year candidate, Hankins earned league player of the week honors four times this year. Overall, he tallied 25 double-figure scoring games and totaled 20 points or more in six games. His 10 blocked shots in a home win over Wayne State (Jan. 21) set a new school single-game mark and helped FSU post a league-record with 20 team blocks in the victory.
Up Next
If Truman can get past Ferris State and into the field of 32, it will take on the winner of third-seeded Southern Indiana (25-4) and sixth-seeded Findlay (23-6) on Sunday with tip set for 5 p.m. eastern time. The Bulldogs split with the Screaming Eagles this season and dropped their only game against Findlay in school history back on Dec. 19, 2003 (71-52).
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