UKIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman State men's basketball team defeated #24 Missouri S&T 80-77 at Pershing Arena on Thursday night, improving to 10-13 overall and 7-8 in conference play. The Miners fell to 17-5 and 11-4.
Truman controlled the game from start to finish, building a 13-point lead in the first half and maintaining the advantage throughout before holding off a late Missouri S&T rally.
The Bulldogs came out firing, jumping to an 11-0 lead in the opening minutes. Emmanuel Byrd started the scoring with a layup at 19:09, assisted by Ja'Vion Byers. Byers then hit a three-pointer at 18:43, assisted by Julian Brown, to make it 5-0. Brown extended the run with back-to-back three-pointers at 17:35 and 17:11 to give Truman an 11-0 advantage.
Missouri S&T responded with a three-pointer from Garrett Hines at 16:56 to cut the deficit to 11-3, but Truman continued to extend its lead. Brennan Lovette made a driving layup at 16:26, assisted by Byrd, to push the lead to 13-3. Brown hit another three-pointer at 15:50, assisted by Lovette, to make it 16-5.
The Bulldogs' largest lead of the first half came at 10:26 when Brown's three-pointer made it 26-13. Missouri S&T then mounted a rally, cutting the deficit to 26-18 on Andrew Young's layup at 8:15, but Truman maintained control. Jahki Parrinello hit a three-pointer at 11:17 to push the lead back to 23-11.
Truman led 40-34 at halftime. Brown scored 12 points in the opening period, while Byrd added five points and three assists.
The second half saw Missouri S&T make several runs to try to get back into the game. Byrd extended Truman's lead to 42-34 with a layup at 19:24, assisted by Byers. Brown's three-pointer at 17:19 made it 47-41. Parrinello followed with a driving layup at 16:52 to make it 49-41.
Byers hit a three-pointer at 15:51 to push the advantage to 52-44. Missouri S&T cut the deficit to 52-46 with Young's layup at 15:32. The Miners continued their rally as Young's three-pointer at 15:08 made it 52-49. Rickman's driving layup at 12:59 cut the deficit to 54-51.
McCafferty provided a crucial boost off the bench for Truman, scoring on a driving layup at 12:36, assisted by Parrinello, to make it 54-51. Byrd extended the lead to 59-53 with a three-pointer at 9:57.
The game remained close down the stretch. Beauchamp's three-pointer at 4:28 cut it to 64-66. Beauchamp's driving layup at 5:13 made it 64-62, and his free throw at 5:13 cut it to 64-63. Parrinello answered with two free throws at 3:53 to make it 66-66. Young's layup at 3:40 gave Missouri S&T a 66-68 lead, but Parrinello's driving layup at 3:09 tied it 68-68.
Parrinello took over in the final minutes, making key free throws to ice the game. His driving layup at 2:20 gave Truman a 70-68 lead, followed by a free throw at 2:20 to make it 71-68. After Benassi's 1-and-1 free throws at 1:25 cut it to 72-70, Parrinello hit two free throws at 1:56 and another at 1:07 to push the lead to 74-70.
Parrinello's dunk at 0:56 extended the lead to 76-70. Young's three-pointer at 0:43 made it 76-73. McCafferty made two crucial free throws at 0:12 to give Truman a 78-74 lead. Parrinello then added two more free throws at 0:03 to make it 80-74. Benassi hit a three-pointer at 0:01 to cut the final margin to 80-77.
Parrinello led all scorers with 21 points, adding six assists and three steals. Brown finished with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 6-of-10 from three-point range. Byrd contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. Lovette added six points and eight rebounds.
For Missouri S&T, Cameron Stovall led the way with 21 points, while Young added 18 points. Beauchamp finished with 16 points, and Benassi contributed 11 points and seven assists.
Truman shot 48.2% from the field (27-of-56), 43.5% from three-point range (10-of-23), and 76.2% from the free-throw line (16-of-21). Missouri S&T shot 41.5% overall (27-of-65), 37.9% from beyond the arc (11-of-29), and 70.6% from the line (12-of-17).
The Bulldogs dominated in the paint, outscoring Missouri S&T 32-30, and capitalized on fast breaks with a 15-4 advantage. Truman's bench outscored the Miners' bench 32-8.
TEAM STATISTICS
| Category |
Truman State |
Missouri S&T |
| Field Goals |
27-56 (48.2%) |
27-65 (41.5%) |
| 3-Point FGs |
10-23 (43.5%) |
11-29 (37.9%) |
| Free Throws |
16-21 (76.2%) |
12-17 (70.6%) |
| Rebounds |
40 |
33 |
| Assists |
16 |
16 |
| Turnovers |
15 |
12 |
| Steals |
9 |
9 |
| Blocks |
6 |
1 |
TRUMAN STATE LEADERS
MISSOURI S&T LEADERS
- Points: Cameron Stovall (21), Andrew Young (18), Blaise Beauchamp (16)
- Rebounds: Andrew Young (6), Cameron Stovall (6)
- Assists: Alex Benassi (7)
Up Next:
The Bulldogs will look to sweep the season series tomorrow against Lincoln as part of senior day. The men's tipoff will be at 3:00 PM, with the senior day festivities taking place between the men's and women's games.
#BulldogNation
