The Truman men’s basketball team shot 33% from the floor and put just EJ Hicks (Davenport, Iowa, Davenport Central) in double-figures offensively in a 68-49 loss at Southwest Baptist (Mo.) on Saturday afternoon.
Truman (6-16, 4-11 MIAA), who slipped to ninth in the MIAA with the loss, has five games to play in the regular season and will face a tough road test on Wednesday (Feb. 8) night at Fort Hays (Kan.) State in a 7:30 pm tipoff. The Bulldogs are a half-game behind Emporia (Kan.) State in the conference standings after the Hornets were idle on Saturday.
The Bulldogs opened a 20-14 lead through the game’s first 14 minutes before SBU (15-9, 8-7 MIAA) closed the first half on a 16-5 run during the final five minutes to take a 30-25 lead into the intermission.
After the Bearcats’ Ryan Dougherty widened the gap to 11 with six quick points out of the break, the Bulldogs began to draw closer, inching to within four points twice on triples by Isaac Gardner with 15:15 to play in the game. However, another Bearcat run quickly pushed the margin back to 11 and only once more was Truman able to stick within single-digits the rest of the way.
Hicks' 10 points led all Bulldogs, while Isaac Gardner (Washington, Iowa, Washington) added nine points off the bench. Truman was 16-for-48 from the field overall, including a 6-for-19 mark from three-point range and 11-for-17 from the charity stripe. SBU outrebounded the ’Dogs 43-28, including a 15-6 edge on the offensive glass that led to a dozen additional second-chance points. Mike Carlson (Superior, Wis., Marshall) chipped in eight points, while both Marek Bush (Kansas City, Mo., Lincoln Prep) and Tom Norton (Bloomington, Ill., Central Catholic) finished with six points.
Robson Memnon finished with a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds for SBU.
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