EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.—The Truman Men's Basketball team pulled away after an intense first half to win their GLVC tournament quarterfinals matchup over Rockhurst 85-68 on Friday night, solidifying their place in the semi-finals.
To begin the game, the Bulldogs were raining threes. Cade McKnight opened the game with a trey, followed by Hunt Strait and Brodric Thomas. The Hawks kept the game close, knotted at 9-9 when McKnight hit his second three from the top right of the arc. It was the start of a 10-0 run for the Bulldogs. Turner Scott scored the next seven for Truman, including a layup on a great backdoor feed from McKnight and a deep three from 28 feet. With the score at 19-9, Rockhurst went on a 10-2 run, started by a three pointer from Spencer Moes.
Truman quickly pushed the lead back up to seven after a three point play from McKnight and then two free throws from Scott. The Hawks continued to chip away and with 3:09 left in the half the Hawks tied the game at 28. The two teams went back and forth giving and taking the lead, and with Truman up 34-33 in the final seconds of the half McKnight closed the half with a putback to give Truman a 36-33 lead heading into the break. McKnight scored 15 in the first half to lead the way, with Scott pouring on 11 as Thomas sat the rest of the first half after picking up his second foul at the 14:41 mark.
Thomas returned to the floor to begin the second half, and had a huge half to put Truman over the top. He scored 20 points in the half, and would end up tying McKnight for the team lead with 23. Early on in the half Rockhurst kept it close, and with Truman holding a one point lead at 40-39 Thomas completed a three point play which started a 13-5 run that gave Truman some breathing room at 53-44. Thomas scored the first six and Strait drained another three in the run. However, Rockhurst would not go down easily.
The Hawks pulled within four at 56-52 with 8:56 remaining. But Truman answered with an 8-0 run, starting with two free throws from Thomas, a Thomas three from the top right of the arc and then a trey from Scott taken from the top left with 7:10 remaining to make it 64-52. Truman would lead by double digits the rest of the way.
McKnight stepped up in the first half with Thomas on the bench, and finished with 23 points and four rebounds. Thomas also finished with 23 points—including 8-9 from the foul line in the second half. Scott reached double figures with 18 points, as did Strait with ten. Dylan Peeters played 20 crucial minutes for the Bulldogs, collecting eight points, five boards and two blocks.
The Bulldogs will take on second seeded Indianapolis at 8:30 tomorrow night, vying for a spot in the final on Sunday.
