Truman State Men's basketball (10-12, 5-9 GLVC) goes to McKendree University (10-12, 6-7 GLVC) on Saturday, February 4th, at 3 p.m. in the Harry M. Statham Sports Center.
Against McKendree:
The Bearcats of McKendree are an even 10-10 on the season, with six wins and seven losses in the GLVC. They are coming off a 68-64 win against William Jewell College on Thursday, February 2nd. Caleb Zurliene scored a game-high 26 points along with nine rebounds and two steals. Bryson Bultman scored 19 and grabbed four boards. Milos Vicentic was the Bearcats' third double-digit scorer, dropped 15/8/1.
McKendree has lost to Northern Michigan University, Michigan Technological University, William Jewell College, Southwest Baptist, Grand Valley State, Drury, Missouri S&T, UMSL, UIndy, and Illinois Springfield. They are 7-2 at home, 3-7 in away games, and 0-1 on a neutral setting. Following Truman State, the Bearcats play at Southwest Baptist on February 9th, and at Rockhurst on February 11th.
The Bearcats are led by Bryson Bultman, one of the most complete players in the GLVC. Bultman averages 16.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game. He leads McKendree in all three categories. Bultman is second in scoring the GLVC, behind Rich Byhre of Rockhurst. His 6.6 rebounds ranks seventh, and his 5.3 assists is good for second.
Milos Vicentic averages 15.5 points a game, and is third on the team with 4.7 rebounds a contest.
Eric Powell II is third on the team in scoring. He averages 12.4 points.
Bulldog Tidbits:
Truman State Men's basketball fell to No. 7 UIndy on Thursday, February 2nd 83-76. Elijah Hazekamp added his name to the Truman record books, scoring his 100th point against the Greyhounds.
Truman State faced a large deficit early, down 36-13 with 6:01 left in the first half. The Bulldogs cut the Greyhounds lead, going into the half down nine, 44-35. Strait and Hazekamp had eight points each at the half. Truman shot 14-28 from the field and UIndy went 14-31.
The Bulldogs rallied in the second half, taking a five-point lead with 7:07 left in the game. UIndy retook the lead with 3:50 remaining, and held onto it for their 11th GLVC win.
Truman had three players score double-digit points, with Hunter Strait and Elijah Hazekamp leading the way. Strait scored 25 with three rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Hazekamp scored 21 points and added seven rebounds and five assists. Dylan Peeters dropped 11 with five rebounds and three steals.
Hazekamp became the 34th Bulldog to score 1000 career points. Hunter Strait reached the 1000-point club earlier the season. Hazekamp leads the team in scoring with 15.1 points per game. He also leads the Bulldogs in rebounds with 7.3 a game.
Hunter Strait scores 12.5 points per game with 3 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
Dylan Peeters has climbed up the scoring average list. He is now averaging 7.3 points per game with 4.5 rebounds.
Xavier Hall is third in scoring with 8.1 points a game. He leads the Bulldogs in assists, averaging 4.2.
Truman plays their final two home games of the season against Illinois Springfield on Thursday, February 9th, at 7:30 p.m., and against Lewis on Saturday, February 11th, at 3 p.m. The theme against UIS is Pink Out, and the Lewis game will be Senior Day.
