Two teams looking to jump start the second half of the MIAA season will meet on Wednesday night as the Truman State University Bulldogs (Mo.) visits Pittsburg State University (Kan.) for a 7:30 p.m. tip. The Bulldogs are looking to sweep the season series with the Gorillas.
In the first meeting with Pittsburg State, the Bulldogs erased an 11-point first half Gorilla lead and dominated PSU in the final 20 minutes for a 77-63 victory in Pershing Arena on Dec. 5th.
Truman trailed by four at the break and then shot 50% in the second half to outscore Pittsburg State 47-29 for the win.
The Bulldogs suffered their 11th straight loss on Saturday to Missouri Southern by a 79-69 score. Freshman Tom Norton matched his career high with 20 points in the game on four three-pointers in 36 minutes played. Three of the four other Truman starters also scored in double-figures with Alex Henderson adding 14, Vesko Filchev scoring 13 and Stefan Garrison putting in 11 points. Ethan Freeman, the fifth Truman starter, had 11 rebounds.
The Bulldogs were tied with the Lions at the half despite eight more turnovers and 14 less shot attempts. Truman finished with a season-high 23 turnovers and after shooting 50% in the first half, cooled off to 31% in the second.
Vesko Filchev leads the Bulldogs in scoring although it is a five-player race for the top spot. The five starters are within two points per game of each other with Filchev currently leading at 11.3, following by Norton (11.0), Henderson (10.9), Garrison (10.8) and Freeman (9.3).
The Gorillas have lost five straight and 10 of their last 12 games but have a 5-4 record in games played at John Lance Arena.
Pittsburg State dropped a 69-62 decision to Missouri Western on Saturday. The Gorillas chopped a 15-point Griffon lead down to four with just 22 seconds left on an Andy Smith three-pointer. Spencer Magana missed on a three-point attempt with 15 seconds showing while the Griffons made three of four free throws to close the game out.
Magana finished with 24 points on 9-of-19 shooting and 5-of-11 from beyond the arc. Rodney Grace, who had a game-high 16 against the Bulldogs back on Dec. 5th, added 13 against the Griffons.
Magana leads the team in scoring at a 17.2 points per game mark and is sixth in the conference scoring race. He is first in the conference in three-pointers made per game at 2.8 and fourth in free throw percentage at 85%.
SERIES INFO:
This will be the 39th meeting between the Bulldogs and the Gorillas with Pittsburg State holding a 30-9 advantage in the series.
Pittsburg State leads 16-2 in games played in Pittsburg, Kan. The last win by the ‘Dogs was a 76-74 victory during the 1999 MIAA Postseason tournament.
The Gorillas have won eight of the last 10 meetings but the margin of victory has been on average just 4.2 points.
Courtesy Truman State University
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