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KIRKSVILLE -- In a game which the final score marked the largest margin of the day, the Truman men’s basketball team came up just short in its 2010-2011 season finale, dropping a 60-53 nailbiter to the University of Central Missouri on Saturday afternoon.

Alex Henderson (Willard, Mo., Willard) scored 17 in his final game as a Bulldog, while Ethan Freeman (Urbandale, Iowa, Urbandale) secured his claim on the MIAA rebounding title for the season, pulling down a game-high 14 to go along with six points and four assists.

Truman (7-19, 5-17 MIAA) led by five, 20-15, after a Pat Sodemann (St. Louis, Mo., Parkway West) layup with 5:58 to go in the first half, but the Mules (18-10, 13-9 MIAA) would rattle off a 12-1 run to take a six point lead with a little less than two minutes to play in the half. However, the Bulldogs would piece together a late burst of their own, scoring the half’s final five points to head to the break down two, 27-25.

The game would stay within arms’ reach, as a Vesko Filchev jumper in the paint knotted the score at 40 apiece with 12:19 to play. After Central pushed the lead back to six, Truman countered once again, pulling even twice, including at 52-52 off another Filchev (Plovdiv, Bulgaria, GPCHE) basket with 2:27 remaining.

But from there, UCM would score eight of the game’s final nine points, including  six straight in the final 32 seconds from the charity stripe.

Henderson’s 17 points were a game-high, as the senior went 5-of-13 from the field, 3-of-8 from long-range and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Filchev would also join him in double-figures, finishing with 13 points and adding seven rebounds. Brian Nwelue added nine on perfect 4-for-4 shooting, as Truman would shoot 38% from the field for the game. The Bulldogs struggled from the free throw line, connecting at a 56% (9-for-16) clip but did out-rebound UCM, 38-30.

Truman held UCM more than 15 points below its season average in the contest. Boo Hunter and Tyrone Young paced the Mules with 14 points each, while Bryce Brunz added 11 and a pair of assists.

(Courtesy Truman State Athletics Department)