KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Truman State Men's basketball takes a trip to the 417 area code where they will play Southwest Baptist University (SBU) in Bolivar, Mo. The game will be played at 3 p.m. on Saturday the 10th. Truman lost their last two contests against GLVC opponents Lewis (68-60) and Illinois Springfield (78-58).

Against Southwest Baptist: Truman State has a 22-30 all-time record against the Bearcats, last winning at home 79-66 on 2/27/2021. The Bulldogs are 3-2 in the last five meetings, with SBU winning last year's contest 82-69 in Bolivar. Elijah Hazekamp was second in the most recent meeting between the two, putting up up 13 points and grabbing seven rebounds in a team-high 34 minutes played. Dylan Peeters had eight points and and four rebounds in only 14 minutes played. Peeters was 4-4 shooting from the field and also tallie an assist. SBU's standout guard Quinn Nelson scored 18 on 7-14 shooting in the Bearcat's win last season.

Nelson, an Ozark, Mo. native and 2021-22 GLVC Player of the Year, returned for his fifth season at SBU and is the player to watch for the Bearcats. He has a career average of 13.1 points per game, and has averaged double-digits per game since the 2019-20 season. Nelson is first in scoring for SBU this season, averaging 16.5 points. He scored 27.0 points in a non-conference game against Grand Valley St. on 11/11/22.

SBU has three other players averaging double-digit points so far this season. RJ Crawford, Noah Franklin, and Drenin Dinkins are all above 10+ points per game. Crawford is right behind Nelson with 16.0 a game, followed by Franklin with 12.6 and Dinkins with 10.8.

Houston, Texas product Crawford averaged 12.9 points per game in 27 contests last season, and scored a season-high 21.0 points against Missouri S&T on 11/26/22.

Bulldog Tidbits:

Hunter Strait etched his name into the Truman State record books as he passed Cory Myers in career games played as a Bulldog with 123 in a loss against Illinois Springfield. Strait had a historic week, becoming the 33rd Bulldog to score 1000 career points against Lewis and becoming the most tenured player of all time against UIS.

Truman State Men's basketball lost to Lewis University 68-60 on 12/1/22. The Flyers went into the half up 11, with a score of 38-27. Truman shot 11-20 from the field, while Lewis made 15 of their 29 attempts. The Bulldogs were 2-8 on 3-pointers. Nduka Ogwu scored all of his career-high nine points in the first half, with Hunter Strait scoring eight of his own. Truman outscored Lewis in the second half 33-30, with Hunter Strait and Xavier Hall trying to complete the comeback. Strait scored 13 in the half, and Hall scored 11. Truman shot 12-33 and hit four threes. Hunter Strait scored a team and personal season-high in points with 21, followed by Xavier Hall with 11, and Nduka Ogwu with nine. Strait shot an efficient 8-15 from the field. Hall made four of his six shots, and Ogwu shot 4-7.

The Bulldogs fell to UIS 78-58 in Springfield on 12/3/22, as Elijah Hazekamp, Trey Shearer, and Strait led the Bulldogs in scoring. Hazekamp led with 17, followed by Shearer with 10, and Strait with nine.

Under Coach Horner, the Bulldogs are 56-24 in GLVC games played and 31-8 in conference home games. 

Horner is three wins shy of catching Chris Foster for fifth place on the all-time wins chart at Truman State. Horner is sitting at 80 wins in five seasons.  

Up Next:

The Bulldogs will host Grand View in a non-conference game on Monday, December 19th, at 3 p.m. Grand View is 2-7 so far this season.