The Truman Men’s Basketball team continued its excellent form on Saturday afternoon as they won their fifth straight game–taking down Maryville 72-47. After the Saints scored 90 in St. Louis when the two teams played earlier this season, the Bulldogs defense limited the Saints to a 35.4% shooting day from the field and only four made threes. A spectacular defensive effort by Truman limited Maryville leading scorer Owen Long to just seven points, a far cry from his season average over 24.
Dylan Peeters and Elijah Hazekamp led the way for the Bulldogs with 17 points each, with Peeters setting a new career high with 18 rebounds and Hazekamp making four three pointers.
The first half was a competitive, back and forth affair. Cade McKnight got the scoring started for the Bulldogs, Maryville answered with a three and then Hazekamp answered with his first three of the game after. With the game tied at 13, Masen Miller made a three pointer and and Peeters hit two foul shots for a quick 5-0 burst for Truman, but Maryville would answer–tying the game at 22 with 3:59 left in the half. But at that point, Truman had a quick 8-0 run with a basket from Turner Scott, then threes from Hunter Strait and Miller. Scott hit two foul shots to make it a 10-0 run, and Maryville got two back as the half closed to make it 32-24 at halftime.
In the early minutes of the second half, Truman continued to expand their lead and with 16:05 left Peeters threw down a dunk on a fast break after a steal and made it 42-25 Bulldogs. With 9:03 to go the Bulldogs pushed their lead up to 20 at 52-32 and saw out a dominating 25 point win.
The Bulldogs will be back in action Thursday as they take on Lindenwood at home. Tip off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.