KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Truman State Men's basketball is coming off a 1-1 performance in the GLVC/G-MAC Challenge, taking an 82-69 loss to the University of Findlay and an 86-80 victory against Cedarville University.
Three Bulldogs cored double-digit points in the loss to Findlay, with freshmen Matt Haefner and Kobi Williams scoring 15 and 14, and Trey Shearer had his twelfth double-digit scoring game with 12.
Haefner added five rebounds and an assist, and Williams also had five rebounds with three assists. Shearer had a rebound, three assists, and two steals.
Landon Eiland, and Xavier Hall both had six points, with Hall grabbing five boards and dishing out a team-high six assists.
Casen Lawrence, Joe Knutson, and Blaise Porter also recorded points against the Oilers.
In Truman's win against Cedarville, Shearer had 21 points on 6-10 shooting and 4-6 from three. He also had four rebounds, three assists, and a steal.
Brennan Lovette and Blaise Porter both scored double-digits as well, with Lovette having 14 and Porter having 13. Casen Lawrence was close to 10 with nine points on 3-6 shooting from three.
Landon Eiland, Xavier Hall, and Matt Haefner all scored seven points. Kobi Williams scored six points and Joe Knutson had two points on two shots.
As a team, Truman shot 28-54 (51.9%) and 14-26 (53.8%) from three. The Bulldogs shot well from the line as well, going 16-22 (72.7%)
Truman had 22 points in the paint, 21 points off turnovers, nine fast break points, and 31 bench points.
Last week, Kobi Williams was highlighted as one of Truman's promising freshman, this week, Matt Haefner will have some shine as he was a top performers through two games. Haefner is averaging 11.0 points, five rebounds, and two assists per game, despite playing 19.0 minutes per game. In high school at Lafayette High School in St. Louis, Missouri, Haefner played basketball and volleyball. He set the Lafayette single-game scoring record with 39 points and reached the 1000-point club. Haefner was named All-Conference and All-District twice, and receiver Academic All-State honors three times.
As for Emporia State, the Hornets are 3-1 so far with wins against Virginia Union (72-59), Arkansas Tech (86-76), and Southwestern Oklahoma (83-63). Their lone loss was to North Carolina at Pembroke 78-73.
Through four games, four Hornets are averaging 14+ points per game. Solomon Oraegbu is at 16.8, Owen Long at 16.5, Alijah Comithier at 15.5, and Atavian Butler at 14.8. Kaden Evans is averaging the fifth-most with 8.3 points per game.
Comithier leads the team in rebounds per game with 7.0 and is also tied in assists with Kaden Evans with 3.3.
Evans is also the only Hornet with over two steals per game with 2.3
Darius Yohe has been a great shot blocker so far, with 3.8 per game so far.
Historically, Emporia State has been dominant in the series, leading 29-13. The Hornets are 11-1 in the last twelve, and Truman's last victory was 77-70 at home on 1/28/2012.
Following Emporia State, the Bulldogs host Avila University (Mo.) on Sunday, November 19th at 2 p.m. then take a trip to Minnesota to take on Concordia University, St. Paul and Southwest Minnesota State University on November 25-26.
