KIRKSVILLE, Mo.—Coming into the night as the home opener, it was guaranteed that the Truman Men's Basketball team would put on a show. The back and forth affair saved the most drama for the end as Truman had the ball with 2.7 seconds left on their own baseline with time for one final play. Brodric Thomas took the ball into the front court as the time ticked away drained a three from 30 feet out as time expired to give the Bulldogs a 71-68 win.
The first half was back and forth with four lead changes and two ties. The first six minutes were very evenly balanced as nearly each bucket tied the game or swung the lead to the other side. Truman had their biggest lead of the half at 12-9 as Thomas scored on a layup, but from there a three from the Lions knotted it up and they would lead the rest of the half. The Lions would lead by as many as nine at 33-24 with 1:30 to go, but a dunk from Thomas and jumper from Hunter Strait brought the Bulldogs within five at 33-28 at the break.
In the second half, Truman hung around early on as MSSU continued to lead the game. Finally, with 10:39 left in the half Truman took their first lead of the frame at 47-46 after a layup by Luke TerHark. Eventually the Bulldogs took their biggest lead of the game at 54-49 following a layup from Cade McKnight. But the Lions would not go down easy as back to back threes swung the lead back to the visitors. With five minutes to go, Ted Brown gave the Lions a 59-58 lead. But a layup from McKnight gave the lead back to Truman and they would not trail again. With 1:26 left Brown knotted the game up at 68, and the intense finish would begin. TerHark missed a three that would have put the Bulldogs ahead, then on the other end a missed layup gave TSU their last chance, which Thomas took advantage of.
Thomas led the team with 23 points, with the last bucket putting him over McKnight's 20. McKnight led the team in rebounds with seven and assists with four. It was Truman's first win over a ranked opponent since beating #18 Northern State (S.D.) in the Thanksgiving Classic last season, and first win over a top ten team since beating #9 Bellarmine on January 13, 2017.
Truman will return to the court next Friday as they take on Washburn in the Thanksgiving Classis in Topeka, Kan. Tip off will be at 3 p.m.
