KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Truman State football secured the outright Great Lakes Valley Conference championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA Division II Playoffs to highlight a busy week for Bulldog Athletics. The men's basketball team opened its season with two losses before rallying past Cedarville for its first victory, women's basketball split two games at the GMAC/GLVC Crossover and volleyball concluded its season in the GLVC Championship Tournament.
Football Claims GLVC Championship
Truman defeated McKendree 35-21 on Senior Day at Stokes Stadium to finish 7-1 in conference play and claim the first outright GLVC championship in program history.
Dylan Hair accounted for four touchdowns in the victory and became Truman's career leader in touchdown passes. His 42-yard touchdown pass to Cori Robertson during the third quarter was the 71st of his career, breaking the previous program record.
The championship gives the Bulldogs the GLVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Playoffs. Truman will make its second consecutive postseason appearance after ending a drought dating to 1994 last season.
The complete championship game recap is available now on TrumanBulldogs.com. Truman's playoff seed, opponent and game location will be announced during the NCAA Division II Football Selection Show at 5 p.m. Central on Sunday, Nov. 15, at NCAA.com.
Men's Basketball Opens Season With Three Games
Truman opened the 2026-27 season Monday evening inside Pershing Arena with an 85-81 loss to Delta State.
The Bulldogs scored the opening basket before Delta State took control and carried a 44-34 lead into halftime. Truman cut the margin to one at 46-45 after Jakob Blakley connected from three-point range with 16:30 remaining.
Delta State rebuilt the lead and reached its largest advantage at 68-53 with 7:29 left. Truman answered with eight consecutive points, beginning with a Quientan McCafferty three-pointer and ending with three Blakley free throws, to pull within 68-61.
The Bulldogs were down 76-72 with 1:53 remaining before Delta State scored six of the next seven points to lead 82-73. Truman made one final charge in the closing seconds. Marquis Carver-Smith connected from three-point range with 18 seconds left, and Kyle Edison followed with another three to cut the deficit to 83-81 with 10 seconds remaining. Bryce Clayton made two free throws for Delta State with six seconds left to complete the scoring.
Edison led Truman with 24 points, five rebounds and two assists. Carver-Smith added 20 points, while McCafferty finished with 15 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots. Blakley scored 14 points and made three three-pointers.
The Bulldogs made 10 three-pointers and went 23-of-27 from the free-throw line. Truman committed 12 turnovers and scored 20 points from Delta State's 14 giveaways. The Statesmen held a 35-28 rebounding advantage and scored 19 second-chance points. Kolby Horace led Delta State with 32 points.
Truman opened the GMAC/GLVC Crossover on Friday with a 92-84 loss to Findlay in Cedarville, Ohio.
The teams traded control throughout a first half that featured nine lead changes. Truman led by five on three occasions, but Findlay scored the final six points of the half to take a 35-34 advantage into the break.
Findlay opened the second half with a basket before Truman scored eight consecutive points. Edison made two three-pointers around a Roy Henderson III basket to give the Bulldogs a 42-37 lead with 17:59 remaining.
The Oilers responded with eight straight points of their own. Ian Ioppolo scored three consecutive baskets before Alex Kendall's layup put Findlay ahead 45-42.
Truman stayed within two at 50-48 before Findlay gradually extended the margin. The Oilers reached their largest lead at 70-57 with 7:10 remaining. Truman reduced the deficit to seven at 88-81 with 25 seconds left, but Findlay made four free throws around a Blakley three-pointer to finish the game.
Edison led the Bulldogs with 18 points and four assists after making four of his five three-point attempts. Henderson scored 13, McCafferty added 10 and Antwan Robinson finished with nine points off the bench.
Truman placed nine players in the scoring column and received 30 bench points. The Bulldogs scored 46 points in the paint, recorded 17 second-chance points and turned Findlay's 15 turnovers into 20 points.
Findlay separated itself by shooting 65.4 percent from the field and making six of nine three-pointers during its 57-point second half. The Oilers also went 23-of-30 from the free-throw line for the game.
The Bulldogs completed their weekend with a 90-83 comeback victory over host Cedarville on Saturday.
Truman fell behind 35-26 during the first half before Blakley sparked the comeback. He made two three-pointers during an 8-0 Truman response that cut the deficit to one. Edison later scored with 15 seconds remaining to send the teams into halftime tied at 41.
Cedarville opened a 54-48 advantage early in the second half. Truman pulled within three before the Yellow Jackets scored six consecutive points to take their largest lead at 63-53 with 11:05 remaining.
The Bulldogs worked their way back through several exchanges. Blakley made a jumper, Carver-Smith scored on a tip-in and Robinson connected from three-point range. After Cedarville answered each basket, Blakley made a three-pointer and three free throws to reduce the deficit to 69-66 with 6:16 remaining.
Carver-Smith later made two free throws to pull Truman within 75-72. Freshman Ethan Taylor then scored on consecutive Bulldog possessions to give Truman a 76-75 lead with 3:22 left.
Cedarville moved back ahead with two free throws, but Taylor immediately completed a three-point play to give Truman a 79-77 advantage. After the Yellow Jackets tied the game, Taylor scored again with 1:58 remaining to put the Bulldogs ahead for good.
Edison made two free throws before Cedarville pulled within 83-81. Blakley then connected from three-point range with 42 seconds left to extend the advantage to five. Henderson recorded a steal on Cedarville's next possession, and Carver-Smith finished a fast-break dunk to help secure the victory.
Blakley led Truman with 23 points and made four three-pointers. Carver-Smith scored 18 on 7-of-8 shooting, while Edison added 15 points and five assists.
Taylor recorded 14 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and one blocked shot. He scored nine points during the final 3:53. Robinson contributed 12 points off the bench.
Truman shot 48.4 percent from the field and outscored Cedarville 37-20 after falling behind by 10 during the second half. The Bulldogs limited the Yellow Jackets to 3-of-15 shooting from three-point range after halftime and finished their opening week with a 1-2 record.
Women's Basketball Splits GMAC/GLVC Crossover Games
Truman women's basketball opened the GMAC/GLVC Crossover with a 69-58 loss to Cedarville on Friday in Pepper Pike, Ohio.
The Bulldogs scored the first five points and led by as many as five during the opening quarter. Cedarville moved ahead late in the period and took a 33-26 advantage into halftime.
Truman worked its way back during the third quarter. Emajin McCallop, Mallory Ott and Lexie White combined to score seven consecutive points, cutting Cedarville's lead to 37-36. The Yellow Jackets responded with seven straight points before McCallop and White scored the final five points of the quarter to make it 44-41 entering the fourth.
Cedarville opened the final period with 14 unanswered points and built a 58-41 advantage with 5:53 remaining.
Mariann Blass and McCallop answered with consecutive three-pointers to reduce the margin to 11. Cedarville then scored five straight points to move ahead 63-47.
Truman followed with nine unanswered points, with Sarah Helm and Morgan Miller making three-pointers during the stretch. Miller's three cut the deficit to 63-56 with 43 seconds left. Cedarville made six free throws down the stretch before Miller scored the final basket of the game.
McCallop led the Bulldogs with 14 points, three steals and two blocked shots. Miller and White each scored 10. White also recorded seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Blass added eight points and made two three-pointers. Truman forced 19 Cedarville turnovers and collected 11 steals, but the Yellow Jackets held a 35-21 rebounding advantage and outscored the Bulldogs 37-11 off the bench. Cedarville also made 17 of 19 free throws.
Truman bounced back Saturday with a commanding 78-58 victory over Ursuline.
The Bulldogs scored the first eight points and never trailed. White accounted for all eight with two three-pointers and a layup. Truman held Ursuline to two field goals during the first quarter and carried an 18-9 lead into the second.
Truman extended its advantage to 36-20 before Ursuline scored seven consecutive points to cut the margin to nine. McCallop made two free throws with 1:26 remaining to send the Bulldogs into halftime with a 38-27 lead.
The Bulldogs scored the first eight points of the third quarter. Ott and Blass made three-pointers around two McCallop free throws, extending the lead to 46-27.
Truman shot 10-of-16 from the field during a 25-point third period. Blass scored 10 points in the quarter, including two three-pointers, while the Bulldogs held Ursuline to 10 points and took a 63-37 lead into the fourth.
The advantage reached 30 points at 70-40 with 6:54 remaining before Truman completed the 20-point victory.
Blass led Truman with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including four three-pointers. White contributed 12 points and five rebounds, while Malia Rodgers scored 11 and made three shots from behind the arc.
Miller collected nine rebounds, Braylee Rogers added seven rebounds and four steals and Ott finished with seven points, eight rebounds and three assists. Sarah Helm contributed six points off the bench.
Truman outrebounded Ursuline 43-33, including a 17-8 advantage on the offensive glass. The Bulldogs recorded 17 assists on 27 made field goals and received 31 points from their bench.
Truman improved to 2-3 with the victory.
Volleyball Season Ends in GLVC Quarterfinals
Truman volleyball's season concluded Thursday with a 3-0 loss to second-seeded Rockhurst in the quarterfinal round of the GLVC Championship Tournament in Williamsville, Illinois.
The Hawks won the match 25-19, 25-22 and 25-19. Truman hit .343 during the second set and remained within two points at 24-22 before Rockhurst closed the frame. The Hawks finished the match with a .327 hitting percentage, eight service aces and 10 total blocks.
Laci Neece led Truman with 12 kills, while Jessie Julius recorded nine kills and eight digs in her final collegiate game. Hannah Hosty added eight kills and three block assists. Tori Creason distributed 39 assists, and Addy Janssen led the back row with 17 digs.
Truman completed the season with a 14-13 overall record and an 8-5 conference mark. The Bulldogs earned their second consecutive GLVC Tournament appearance and recorded their first winning season under head coach David Gannon.
Creason, Autumn Erickson and Neece were each named First Team All-GLVC before the tournament, giving Truman its first three First Team selections since 2019.
Coming Up This Week
Football
Truman will compete in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs on Saturday, Nov. 21. The Bulldogs' seed, opponent, location and kickoff time will be announced during the selection show Sunday at 5 p.m. Central.
Football Schedule
Men's and Women's Swimming
The Bulldogs travel to the South Dakota Midseason Invite, which begins Thursday, Nov. 19.
Men's Swimming Schedule | Women's Swimming Schedule
Women's Basketball
Truman travels to the GLVC/NSIC Challenge next weekend. The Bulldogs face Concordia-St. Paul at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, before playing Winona State at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21.
Women's Basketball Schedule
Men's Basketball
The Bulldogs complete their season series against Delta State at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, in Cleveland, Mississippi. Delta State won the first meeting 85-81 in Kirksville.
Men's Basketball Schedule
Men's and Women's Cross Country
Truman competes at the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championships on Saturday, Nov. 21, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Men's Cross Country Schedule | Women's Cross Country Schedule
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