Truman State and Indianapolis Men’s Basketball games almost always come down to the wire. Last year in the regular season meeting Jimmy King made a buzzer beater to give UINDY the win, but in the ten meetings between the two schools all but two have been decided by single digits. This time the Bulldogs were on the winning end as they won in the capital of Indiana 66-64.
With 3:16 to go, the Greyhounds led 64-60, but a pair of free throws from Cade McKnight and a three pointer from Elijah Hazekamp gave Truman a one point lead. Then with six seconds left, Turner Scott found himself at the foul line in a tight game. He made 1-2 free throws to give Truman a two point lead and a jumper in the paint at the buzzer by Cory Miller Jr. wouldn’t go and the Bulldogs held on.
For the second straight game, Dylan Peeters had a double-double for the Bulldogs with 14 points and 14 rebounds, both career highs. Cade McKnight led the scoring for the Bulldogs for the second straight game with 15 points. Turner Scott also tied a career high with nine assists.
Early on the teams went back and forth, with the game at 6-5 Greyhounds after the first two minutes. Then a 7-1 run gave the hosts a 13-6 lead. From there Scott hit a three pointer and Hunter Strait hit two foul shots to bull Truman back within a bucket. But UINDY went on a 12-3 run to go up 25-14. For most of the first half, the Greyhounds were up by at least two possessions. In the last minute Scott his one of his two treys to pull Truman within six at 36-30 but another bucket by the Greyhounds made it 38-30 at the intermission in favor of the home team.
Early in the second, UINDY built their lead back up to double digits with back to back threes to go up 47-37 at the 17:47 mark of the half. But the hot shooting went cold over the next five minutes as Truman went on a 7-0 run to pull within three at 47-44; with four points coming from Peeters. Truman kept chipping away at the deficit and eventually tied the game at 55 with 6:25 to go. The Bulldogs would not take the lead until Hazekamp hit the go ahead three at the 1:53 mark to go up 65-64 and from there Truman would hold on for the win.
Four Bulldogs reached double figures as McKnight had 15, Peeters 14, Hazekamp 12 and Hunter Strait 11 (including 3-6 from downtown). Dee Montgomery led the Greyhounds with 14 points, with four made triples, and dished out four assists. Kendrick Tchoua led the team with seven boards.
The Bulldogs will be back in action Saturday as they head to St. Louis to take on Missouri-St. Louis in a crucial early season showdown with the Central division favorites.