ST. LOUIS—There's something about playing Missouri-St. Louis that just brings out the best in Masen Miller. The Truman freshman led the Bulldogs to a 79-72 win at UMSL with a career high 27 points, including seven makes from beyond the arc. His previous career high was 25, which was set at UMSL last season, and of course he hit the unforgettable half court shot to lift Truman to victory in the first game this season.
Cade McKnight added 19 points while Hunter Strait added 12, while leading the team in rebounds with seven. Miller led the team with four assists and two steals.
Early on the teams traded the lead back and forth, Miller hit his first three pointer at the 13:01 mark of the half to put Truman back ahead 11-9; answering a three pointer from UMSL's Marty Jackson. Jackson evened the game at 11 with two foul shots before Miller drained another three to put Truman up 14-11. With 6:55 left in the half the game was tied at 19, when Truman made their move. The Bulldogs went on a 14-0 run, started by a three pointer and two foul shots from McKnight; continued with threes from Elijah Hazekamp, Miller and Keaton Mitchell. Truman led by as many as 17 after a three from Trey Shearer put Truman up 38-21, and Truman held a 38-23 lead at halftime. The Truman defense stifled the UMSL shooting, with just 6-28 (21.43%) from the floor and 1-9 three pointers (11.11%).
Early in the second half, Miller hit a jumper in the paint to push the Truman lead to its biggest yet at 46-26. But UMSL wouldn't go down easy on their home court—cutting the lead to ten with 12:51 to go. Miller answered with back to back threes, and then a four point play from Hazekamp made the lead 18 again at 61-43 with 10:33 remaining. In the waning minutes, UMSL made it a single digit game but Truman would not shy away from the challenge. With 1:39 to go the Bulldogs lead was just five at 72-67, but Strait drained a jumper to make it seven. A three point play from UMSL made it a four point game, but Strait hit two foul shots to make it six. UMSL answered to keep it a four point game at 76-72 with 23 seconds left, but a foul shot from McKnight and two foul shots from Strait wrapped the game up for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs have the most GLVC wins with six, standing alone at that mark after Southwest Baptist lost tonight to Missouri S&T. However, Lewis remains unbeaten in GLVC play at 4-0 after surviving a nail biter 70-69 against UIndy. Truman will be back in action this Saturday afternoon at Lindenwood as they seek their seventh GLVC win.
