KIRKSVILLE, Mo.—The third ranked Truman Men's Basketball team closed its regular season with a tough match against 15-5 Southwest Baptist on Saturday in a battle of top teams in the GLVC. It was knotted 32 all at the half and then a 47-34 surge in the second half gave the Bulldogs the 79-66 victory.
The first half was back and forth, with neither team giving an inch. SBU got the first six points, then finally Elijah Hazekamp got the Bulldogs on the board with a layup at the 15:36 mark of the half. Masen Miller hit a jump shot and then Cade McKnight hit two foul shots to tie the game up. Truman finally took their first lead at the 9:48 mark of the half with a three point from McKnight to go up 14-13. The rest of the first half the teams seesawed back and forth giving and taking the lead, and with 1:07 to go Miller hit a three down 30-27 to tie it up. Turner Scott hit a jumper to close the scoring in the half, tied at 32.
The second half started just like the first half, with neither team gaining an edge on the other. Finally, with 13:57 to go in the half, the Bulldogs broke the dam. Scott hit a three pointer to tie the game up at 43, followed by a three from Hazekamp to take the lead at 46-43. Scott hit a two and then a three, followed by a three from Hunter Strait to take a ten point lead. It was a 13-0 spurt that swung the game in Truman's favor. But SBU would not go down easily.
Back to back threes from the Bearcats made it a four point game with 9:42 remaining. But Truman went on a 7-0 run with a couple buckets from McKnight and a trey from Miller; putting them back up by 11 at 60-49. From there, SBU would get no closer than eight points as Truman grinded out a hard fought victory.
Scott led the way with 17 points, putting him just four shy of 1,000 for his career. McKnight and Dylan Peeters each had 14, while Milelr and Hazekamp had 11. McKnight grabbed eight boards and Hazekamp led the way with five assists. As a team Truman shot 61.4% from the field and held the Bearcats to 40.7% from the field. The Bulldogs drilled 12 threes, including nine the second half.
With this win, the Bulldogs have not lost a regular season game on their home court in two years. Their last loss at home was March 2, 2019 to Lewis.
The Bulldogs finish the regular season 18-1 and atop the GLVC. They will host a first round GLVC Tournament game next Wednesday, opponent is still to be announced.
