KIRKSVILLE, Mo.—It has been a dramatic two weeks for the Truman Men's Basketball team as they have had four straight games decided by two points or less. The first week of February they hosted Lindenwood, which was a two point victory, then Missouri-St. Louis, which was a one point victory. This past week they defeated Bellarmine at the buzzer 61-60 and then fell to Indianapolis 83-82. The loss to the Greyhounds snapped a six game winning streak.
This week they begin on the road as they travel to Drury to take on the resurgent Panthers, who have won their past six games, and come home for Senior Day on Saturday against Southwest Baptist. The team will be honoring seniors Brodric Thomas, Tanner Zeil, Olawale Odafin and Luke TerHark.
In his pursuit of Bulldog records, Brodric Thomas is tied for fifth on the all time leaderboard in blocked shots with 78, alongside Vesko Filchev, and has moved into eighth in points. Against Indianapolis he passed Larry Swift's mark of 1,329 points, reaching 1,344. Terry Bussard is the next name for Thomas to catch at 1,382 points. With nine assists he will break into the top ten in that category to tie Andy Calmes at 274.
Zeil has appeared in 28 games for the Bulldogs, averaging 2.6 points per game and 1.2 rebounds per game. He had a career high 13 points against Central Christian on December 7, 2018 and a career high six rebounds against Northwest Missouri State on November 16, 2018.
Odafin has appeared in 22 games for the Bulldogs over the past two seasons, averaging 2.7 minutes per game and scored 11 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. He also recorded five blocked shots and two steals.
TerHark came to the Bulldogs this season after spending three seasons at Wayne State (Neb.). This season he has appeared in all 24 games with six starts. He has averaged 2.6 points per game and 2.7 rebounds over 18.5 minutes. He set season highs when he grabbed seven rebounds in the opener against Findlay and scored nine against Cedarville.
Turner Scott has been in the tight spots each of the last three games. Against UMSL he was on the line at the end of the game and hit the game winning foul shot to secure the win over the Tritons and keep the perfect home record in tact. He hit the game winning three pointer at Bellarmine and then made go ahead foul shots against Indianapolis before the Greyhounds made the game winning shot. He is averaging 4.2 assists per game in conference play, third highest in the GLVC.
The Opponents:
Drury is on a six game winning streak, defeating Missouri S&T, Maryville, Lewis, Illinois Springfield, Rockhurst and William Jewell. The Panthers are led by Conley Garrison, who is averaging 18.4 points in conference play—sixth best in the GLVC. He leads the team in overall rebounds with five per game while Obi Okafor leads the team in conference play with 5.8 rebounds per game. Garrison is second in the GLVC in assists in GLVC games with 5 per game. Cal Hartley is second on the team in scoring with 13.5 points per game.
The Panthers lead the all-time series with the Bulldogs 11-8. Drury took last year's meeting in Springfield 65-59, and have won the last three regular season meetings. Truman defeated the Panthers in the semi finals of the GLVC tournament in 2018 68-67. The two schools first met in 1923, a 15-14 win for Truman. After meeting in 1938 the two did not meet again until 1992 at the Drury Tournament.
The Bearcats are led by Brady Smith, who is averaging 14.8 points per game, 16 in conference. He also leads the team in assists with 3.4 per game in GLVC play. Damian Prgomet leads the team with 7.8 rebounds per game, 7.9 in conference—second only to Anthony D'Avanzo. They enter the weekend 18-6 but have dropped two of their last three contests—falling 78-60 against Lewis and 73-64 at Rockhurst last Saturday. They also handed then number one Bellarmine their second straight loss on January 23.
SBU leads the all-time series against Truman 27-20. From the 1999-20 season through the 2012-13 season the teams met twice every season, but the series has been on hiatus since 2013, when Truman won in Kirksville 72-60. The first meeting between the two schools was back in 1973, a 78-70 win for the Bulldogs.
Up Next:
Truman will close out the regular season on the road as they take on Maryville and then Missouri S&T on the road next Thursday and Saturday. After the conclusion of the regular season the GLVC Tournament will take place on March 5-8 in Edwardsville, Ill.
