BOLIVAR, Mo. – The Truman State men's basketball team used a dominant first-half performance and clutched free throws down the stretch to secure a 73-67 victory over Southwest Baptist on Wednesday night at Meyer Sports Center. The Bulldogs improved to 9-12 overall and 6-7 in conference play, while the Bearcats dropped to 12-10 (6-8).
Truman State seized control early and never trailed after taking a 4-4 tie midway through the first half.
The game started evenly with Southwest Baptist jumping out to a 4-0 lead on baskets by Luke Ogle and Zac Reedus. The Bulldogs responded quickly as Brennan Lovette scored on a tip-in layup, and Emmanuel Byrd followed with another tip-in layup to tie the game at 4-4 with 17:34 left in the half.
Ja'Vion Byers then sparked a Truman run with a three-pointer at 16:56, assisted by Drew Kingery, to give the Bulldogs their first lead at 7-4. After Leo Gayman's two free throws cut it to 7-6, Jahki Parrinello connected on a three-pointer at 15:43 to make it 10-6.
Southwest Baptist hung around, pulling within 10-9 on Gayman's three-pointer at 15:18, but Truman began to pull away. The Bulldogs extended their lead to double digits at 25-15 when Byers hit a pull-up three-pointer at 6:11.
Jahki Parrinello's fast-break driving layup at 2:09 gave Truman its largest lead of the half at 29-15. The Bearcats scored six late points, including back-to-back three-pointers from Lachie McKain, but the Bulldogs took a commanding 32-21 lead into halftime. Byers led all scorers with 12 first-half points on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range.
The second half saw Southwest Baptist make several runs to get back in the game. The Bearcats opened the half with a three-pointer from Barron Silsby and cut the deficit to 36-33 after another Silsby three-pointer at 15:09.
Truman responded each time to maintain control. Kingery's three-pointer at 15:57 pushed the lead to 39-28, but Moore's driving layup at 12:43 cut it back to 39-30. The Bulldogs answered with a Byers three-pointer at 13:28 to push the lead back to six at 42-36.
The Bearcats continued to battle, cutting the deficit to 60-57 after Silsby's three-pointer at 4:33. Truman sealed the victory at the free-throw line, with McCafferty hitting two free throws at 3:20 to make it 64-59, then Byers converting two more at 2:46 to extend it to 66-59. After Silsby made a layup at 1:38 to cut it to 68-63, McCafferty added a tip-in layup at 1:21 to make it 70-63. Reedus' tip-in layup at 1:08 brought Southwest Baptist within 70-65, but Anderson's two free throws with 35 seconds left pushed it to the final margin of 73-67.
The Bulldogs shot 60.0% from the field in the second half (12-of-20) and made 14-of-18 free throws in the period to hold off the Bearcats' comeback attempts.
Team Statistics Comparison
| Category |
Truman State |
Southwest Baptist |
| Field Goals |
25-52 (48.1%) |
24-56 (42.9%) |
| 3-Point FG |
9-21 (42.9%) |
6-18 (33.3%) |
| Free Throws |
14-21 (66.7%) |
13-21 (61.9%) |
| Rebounds |
35 |
32 |
| Assists |
11 |
14 |
| Turnovers |
13 |
11 |
| Steals |
10 |
7 |
| Blocks |
3 |
1 |
| Points in Paint |
26 |
32 |
| Fast Break Points |
14 |
8 |
| Second Chance Points |
10 |
15 |
| Points off Turnovers |
13 |
18 |
| Bench Points |
24 |
16 |
Truman State Statistical Leaders
Points
Rebounds
Assists
Steals
Blocks
Up Next:
The Bulldogs will look to sweep the season series against Drury on Saturday at 3:00 PM. Truman State won the earlier season game on December 4th 86-79.
#BulldogNation
