KIRKSVILLE, Mo.—The Truman Men's Basketball team returns to action on Wednesday afternoon as they host Grand View University at Pershing Arena. It is an afternoon start at 3:00 p.m. It will be the first game for the Bulldogs since their victory over Central Christian College of the Bible on December 11th.
Against the Saints, Masen Miller led the team with 22 points, but there were a number of players that set new career highs in the game. Keaton Mitchell set two career highs with 11 points and 10 rebounds, for his first career double-double. Hunter Strait also got his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 assists (which was a new career high). Devin Fields and Josh Ollendieck also set new career highs with six and five points in the game.
Truman remains the second highest scoring offense in the GLVC, with 83.7 points per game. They are a point behind Southwest Baptist. However, the Bulldogs hold the edge in shooting percentage with .509 to SBU's .507 and in three point shooting percentage at .429; both of which lead the GLVC.
Player Notes
Cade McKnight leads the GLVC in points per game with 20.9, and in shooting percentage at .655. He last played against Maryville and the Bulldog forward has surpassed Jacoby Ross of Lindenwood, who now has 20.5 points per game. He is also eighth in the conference with 32.9 minutes played per game.
Masen Miller leads the Bulldogs with 311 minutes played this season, which is tied with Trey Shannon of William Jewell for third in the conference at 34.6 per game. He leads the GLVC with a .470 shooting percentage from downtown and is second on the Bulldogs with 13.6 points per game.
Hunter Strait is tied with Mitch Ganote of Southwest Baptist for the lead in the GLVC in assists with 5.4 per game, with each having 49 in nine games played. He's also second in the GLVC in assist to turnover ratio with 2.9 assists to ever turnover.
Elijah Hazekamp is one of three Bulldogs that is averaging double figures this season with 10.4 points per game, and is second on the team with 18 made three pointers. He's also third on the team with 6.1 rebounds per game.
Eric Northweather has started the last two games, and has raised his scoring average to 5.3 points per game. He's shooting .586 from the field and .364 from three point range. He leads the team with six blocked shots.
Dylan Peeters has taken back the team lead in rebounds with 6.7 per game after he grabbed ten against CCCB—along with 16 points it was his first double-double since the win over Findlay on November 13th.
Keaton Mitchell is second on the team with a .625 shooting percentage from the field, and is also shooting .800 from the line this year. His 11 points against CCCB was his fourth game in double figures in the last six.
Trey Shearer tied a career high with three assists in the win over CCCB. He played 19 minutes in the game, it was his highest amount of minutes played since the game at Northwest Missouri State on November 23rd.
Sam Nissen played a season high 20 minutes in the win over CCCB, and made another three—it was the fourth game this season in which he has hit from downtown.
Sam Lock hit double figures for the second time this season in the win over CCCB as he scored 18 points in 18 minutes of action. He hit two three pointers and grabbed three rebounds as well as blocked his second shot of the season.
Series History with Grand View: The teams have met seven times, with five meetings coming in the 1980's. Truman took the first three meetings, but GU took the next two. Truman took the two most recent meetings, both under coach Matt Woodley in 2011 and 2012. The last meeting was on November 28, 2012 which was a 71-61 win for Truman.
Look at the Saints: The NAIA school from Des Moines has started the season 7-4, with their most recent game a loss to Peru State College (Neb.).
Up Next: Truman will resume GLVC play with the turn of the calendar as they have a busy week with four games in seven days. Starting with the second they will host Lindenwood, then play at Quincy on the fourth, host Lewis on the sixth and then go to McKendree on the eighth.
