KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Jeff Horner's first win inside Pershing Arena as the head coach for the Truman State University men's basketball program didn't come easy. The same can be said for the Bulldogs first two victories up in South Dakota as they won a third-straight game by four points or less for the first time in nearly 20 years. But forget all that, a win's a win as Truman outlasted Rockhurst, 64-60, on Thursday night in the GLVC opener.

With the win, Truman continues to creep back to the .500 mark at 3-4 while Rockhurst fell to it at 3-3. The Bulldogs have now won six straight against the Hawks, 13 of the last 14 and lead the all-time series by 13, 27-14. Thursday's meeting was the first decided by four points or less since Dec. 3, 1994, also a 64-60 win by the good guys.

After sitting out with an injury against Sioux Falls on Saturday, Cade McKnight (pictured) came back with a vengeance on Thursday. The 6-9 big man finished with a game-high 24 points on 11-of-12 shooting in 34 minutes on the court, all of which are new career highs. Next up in points for Truman and making his long-awaited return was Brodric Thomas with another versatile effort that included 14 points, six rebounds, three assists, one block, and a steal. Turner Scott kept his double-figure scoring streak alive and chipped in 12 points. Taurin Hughes was unable to find the bottom of the net, but still brought down a team-high seven boards and Nikola Pesic turned in a solid 17 minutes with four rebounds and a team-high four dimes.

As a team, Rockhurst came in averaging nearly 85 points per game, among the best in the GLVC, but Truman limited them to just 60 points. With that effort, the Bulldogs have leaped up to seventh in the league in scoring defense at an even 74 points per contest. The Purple and White also held the Hawks to just 42.3 percent (22-for-52) shooting from the floor. In fact, since the first three games of the season in which Truman opponents shot at least 53 percent each game, that number has been below 44 percent in each of the last four.

Looking at the team head-to-head, the Bulldogs led in both points off turnovers (16-11) and points in the paint (36-30). Rockhurst's Quinton Curry and Curtis Lewis combined to score 32 points, 53.3 percent of the Hawks' offensive output. Rockhurst also went just 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) from deep with a shooting percentage of under 40 in the first 20 minutes (11-for-28).

Getting into the breakdown, the first 11 minutes and change of the game went back and forth with five ties and one lead change. Once it was 18-18 at the 8:52 mark, Truman reeled off six-straight points including a McKnight layup and free throw followed by three Pesic free throws. Rockhurst was able to pull within one, 24-23, before the home team pushed its advantage back to four, 29-25 heading into the locker room.

Switching over to the second half, the Bulldogs tied their biggest lead of six on five different occasions before the sixth tie with just under 10 minutes to go, 43-43. Ties No. 7 and 8 came at 54-54 (5:51 to play) and 60-60 (1:21) before Thomas dropped in a jumper with under a minute remaining that put the hosts up two, 62-60. On the ensuing Rockhurst possession, Lewis missed a layup, Scott got the rebound and was fouled. However, Scott missed the front end of a one-and-one and the Hawks called a timeout with 19 ticks left. On its possession, Rockhurst turned it over after Undra Wilson stepped out of bounds on a baseline drive and Scott was then fouled after the inbounds. Scott wasn't missing these and sunk both for the four-point lead before a last-second missed three-pointer by Chris Hamil.

Next up, Truman will look to keep it rolling on Saturday against William Jewell with tip set for 3 p.m.

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