SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Truman State University men's basketball team didn't pick a great night to shoot poorly as it managed a clip of just 37.3 percent from the field to Drury's 53.6 percent. The Panthers led by as many as 20, 78-58, with just over six minutes to play en route to the 17-point decision, 88-71.

Since its season-long five-game winning streak, Truman (12-8, 7-4 GLVC) has dropped three of five with two of those losses coming at the hands of Drury. Meanwhile, the Panthers (15-4, 8-3 GLVC) have won three straight since their only two-game losing streak on Jan. 18 (No. 6 Bellarmine) and 20 (Indianapolis).

Truman boasted the game's two leading scorers in Jake Velky (20 points) and Brodric Thomas (pictured/18 points), but Velky was held to just three in the second half as he rode the bench with foul trouble. Taurin Hughes finished with 12 points off the bench, all from behind the arc, and Zach Fischer turned in 10 points, all of which were in the second half. Thomas led the Bulldogs in both rebounds (8) and assists (3) while three different players registered two steals apiece.

Aside from two ties in the first eight minutes and change (15-15 and 18-18), Drury never trailed. The Panthers opened the game with a 13-5 run before the Bulldogs battled back to deadlock the score twice. Once it was 18-18, the home team rattled off 17 of the next 22 points to go up by 12, 35-23. From there until the intermission, Truman cut the margin to seven on five different occasions including the halftime score of 45-38 thanks to a triple from Thomas at the buzzer.

The closest the visitors could get in the second half was six, 57-51, at the 13:29 mark, but Drury slammed the door on the Bulldogs with a 15-3 spurt over the next five and a half minutes.

Next up, Truman will host Rockhurst on Saturday for Alumni Weekend and tip inside Pershing Arena is set for approximately 3 p.m. The 1978-79 Bulldog men's basketball team will be recognized at halftime for its induction into the Truman Athletics Hall of Fame.

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