KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The Bulldogs of Truman State have their fourth non-conference matchup of the season, this time against 1-3 Avila University (Mo.) from Kansas City. The Avila Eagles are an NAIA squad and play in the KCAC. Avila began the season with an 85-48 loss to Columbia College, then fell in an exhibition against Division I Kansas City 79-48. The Eagles picked up their first win at Manhattan Christian 76-72. Avila played Saint Mary and lost by one, 55-54, and their most recent game was a 109-63 loss to No. 13 Southwestern 109-63.

In Truman's last game, they took a 91-74 loss to Emporia State in Emporia, Kansas. 

The Bulldogs and Hornets were tied 9-9 early in the first-half, and Truman was never able to take the lead after that. Truman went into the half down 11, with a score of 44-33. The Bulldogs cut the lead to four with 12:26 left in the game, but were unable to take advantage and the Hornets pulled away to win by 17.

Xavier Hall had a new career-high in points with 25 on 10-18 shooting. He grabbed a rebounds and had six assists in the game.

Landon Eiland also had a career-best in points as well, scoring 22. Eiland shot 9-13 and went 4-6 from three.

Casen Lawrence also had a new high in scoring, and was Truman's third double-digit scorer with 12. All of Lawrence's shots were 3-pointers, going 4-7.

Matt Haefner led the lead in rebounds with four, and Kobi Williams had the Bulldogs' only block.

As a team, Truman shot 56.9% and 46.2% from three. The Bulldogs shot good in the second-half, going 15-25 (60.0%) from the field and 9-14 (64.29%) from behind the arc.

Three Bulldogs are averaging double-digit points, with Trey Shearer (13.7), Landon Eiland (12.7), and Xavier Hall (12.7) leading the way. Brennan Lovette is averaging 8.3 and Casen Lawrence is at 8.0. Both Matt Haefner and Casen Lawrence score 7.3 points per game so far, and Blaise Porter is at an even 5.0. Joe Knutson is averaging 1.3 points per game.

Haefner and Williams are over three rebounds per game, with Haefner at 3.7 and Williams at 3.3.

Xavier Hall is having another good season passing the ball, averaging 5.3 assists per game.

For Avila, James Ross III is their only double-digit scorer, averaging 11.5 points per game. He scored 13+ in his last three games, with 15 against Manhattan Christian, 15 versus Saint Mary, and 13 in their most recent loss to Southwestern.

Shayne Scruggs is thier leading rebounder, grabbing 4.8 boards a game. Matthew Boldt is second with 4.0 rebounds per contest.

Jordan Majeed and George Williams are leading the team in assists. Jordan Majeed is at 2.3 and George Williams averages 2.0 per game.

Following Avila, the Bulldogs take a trip to St. Paul, Minnesota for matchups against Concordia, St. Paul on November 25th and Southwest Minnesota State on November 26th.