KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - After trailing by just six points at halftime, 39-33, the Truman State University men's basketball team was outscored by 18 (42-24) in the second half against No. 23 Findlay. The Oilers cruised to an 81-57 win and handed the Bulldogs their first season-opening loss in six years.

Turner Scott (pictured) led all scorers with 18 points (three off his career high), 12 of which came in the first half, on 7-of-11 shooting to go with three assists, two rebounds and two steals. The point guard was joined in double-figures by Taurin Hughes (16 points) and Cade McKnight (12 points) in his first-ever game as a Bulldog. McKnight also brought down a team-high five rebounds and half of his points came at the free throw line. Aside from those three, four other Bulldogs combined to score 11 points on 4-for-13 shooting.

In the team head-to-head, Findlay converted on over 53 percent of its shot attempts (31-of-58) while Truman converted on just 40 percent of its looks (18-for-45). The Oilers also won the rebounding battle by 11 (33-22) as well as points off turnovers (30-16), second chance points (10-3), bench points (21-8), points in the paint (32-22), and fast break points (8-4).

Right off the bat, Findlay scored the first four points before two of the game's three ties at 4-4 and 10-10. Truman then used a 12-2 run to take a 10-point lead, its biggest of the game, with just over eight minutes left in the first half. The Oilers then called a timeout and answered with a 10-4 spurt over their own to cut the deficit to four, 26-22, at the 4:59 mark. Nine seconds later, Hughes hit a three-pointer to put the Bulldogs advantage back at seven, but from there until the intermission, the Oilers outscored their hosts by 13, 17-4.

To begin the second period, the home team outscored its visitors by five, 7-2, thanks to a pair of Scott free throws, a McKnight layup and Hunter Strait triple, the first points of his career. At that point, just under three minutes into the second half, Truman trailed by just one point, 41-40, but would never get any closer than that. Findlay proceeded to take all the momentum with a 19-3 run that lasted nearly six and a half minutes. That put the Oilers up by 17, 60-43, and they would go on to lead by as many as 24 for the final score.

Next up, Truman will compete in day two of the GLVC/G-MAC Challenge on Saturday against Cedarville with the tip set for 3 p.m. The Yellow Jackets fell to Quincy by a score of 69-53 in Friday's first game.

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