Bulldog Men Hold Off Saints for Key Road Win

FINAL: Truman 63, Missouri-St. Louis 61 || Box Scores (HTML | XML | PDF)
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ST. LOUIS - - The two top defensive teams in the Great Lakes Valley Conference locked in a battle that lived up to the billing on Saturday afternoon at Maryville's Moloney Arena, and it was the Truman men's basketball team that emerged with a 63-61 road win for its fourth straight victory.

The Bulldogs (12-3, 5-2 GLVC) fell behind by six points early and trailed 17-13 at the 11:15 mark of the first half before rattling off nine straight to build a 22-17 advantage. Truman would continue to press its margin, leading by a dozen twice late in the half before carrying a 37-27 edge into the intermission.

After a Billy Daniel basket pushed the lead back to 12 in the first minute of the second half, Maryville (9-5, 3-3 GLVC) scored eight straight in just 1:04 to pull within four at 39-35 with 17:53 to go in the ballgame. Truman would settle down and lead again by as many as nine, but the pipeline went mostly dry for the 'Dogs from the field, as the purple and white made just three field goals in the final 14 minutes of regulation. However, during that time, Truman would hit 10 free throws to keep its edge while also ratcheting up the defensive intensity of its own – particularly down the stretch as the Saints' last basket came at the 4:54 mark of the second half.

Following an Asa Toney free throw that pulled MU within three at 60-57 with 4:40 to play, both teams had chances to either put the game away or take the lead. No one would score, however, until two Saint free throws at the 1:52 mark, but a Seth Jackson lay-up with 1:32 on the clock would give Truman a three-point lead once again.

Two more Saint free throws brought the gap to one point, and after a missed Bulldog lay-up, Maryville had a chance for the win in the final seconds. However, a shot from close range spun out, sending Kyle Kanaskie to the line with 5.1 seconds on the clock. The freshman would hit one of two, and Maryville never got a shot off after a mid-court timeout to send the Bulldogs to their 12^th win of the season.

Four Bulldogs logged major minutes in the contest, as both senior Mike Carlson and junior Reed Mells logged 39 minutes each. Carlson notched his eighth 20-plus point game of the season, finishing with a game-high 21 to go alongside nine rebounds and four assists. Jackson added 14 points and three boards in 32 minutes, while Mells closed his day with 13 points, four assists, and two steals. For the week, Mells handed out 14 assists while failing to commit a single turnover.

After shooting a blazing 57% in the first half, Truman's 27% second-half output sent the team to a 42.6% finish from the floor (23-of-54) while hitting five of 11 three-point attempts. The team also knocked home 12-of-16 free throw tries (75%).

Maryville, meanwhile, shot 41% for the game and hit eight of 24 three-point attempts. Armon Provo, the team's leading scorer at 15.8 ppg entering the contest, was held to just seven points on 3-of-9 shooting (1-of-6 three-point). Myles Jarrett led the Saints with 14 points and seven rebounds.

For the Bulldogs, win No. 12 (and win No. 5 in GLVC play) keeps the team all alone in second place in the GLVC west – one game back of nationally-ranked Drury. The team is off until this coming Thursday (Jan. 23) when it travels to Kansas City to face Rockhurst at 7:30 pm. The Hawks have lost five of their last six games and will enter Thursday night's contest with an overall record of 5-9 (1-6 GLVC).

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