To kick off Thanksgiving Break, Truman State University men’s basketball hosted Upper Iowa University Nov. 19 and came out victorious with a score of 87-76.
Two Bulldogs tied their career highs during this game. Sophomore Jake Velky scored 24 points and redshirt senior Connor Erickson had 21 points for the afternoon. Erickson grabbed 12 rebounds against the Peacocks during his 25 minutes on the court, which was Truman’s first double-double this season. The ‘Dogs also hosted Hannibal-LaGrange University Nov. 22, winning 99-68. Leading scorers against Hannibal-LaGrange were redshirt senior Cory Myers and sophomore Nathan Messer with 18 points each. Redshirt senior Dwight Sistrunk Jr. led the team with five assists and two steals.
The men traveled to Lincoln University and increased their winning streak to three with a 72-71 victory over the Blue Tigers on Nov. 26. Velky broke his previous career high against Upper Iowa and scored 26 points during the ‘Dogs’ battle with Lincoln. The ‘Dogs start conference play this week, and Sistrunk said the team wants to feed off of these last few wins and carry the momentum to get a good start in GLVC play. Sistrunk said Truman’s current 5-1 record isn’t a bad start, but they still have things to improve on.
“With as many seniors as we have on our team I feel it works in our favor as we understand how long the season can be and how the biggest thing is just being consistent everyday so that when March arrives we are playing our best ball,” Sistrunk said.
The ‘Dogs travel to Kansas City this weekend to open conference play. Truman will travel to Rockhurst University Thursday, Dec 1, for a 5:30 p.m. game. The ‘Dogs will then have a 3 p.m. start at William Jewell College Sat., Dec. 3.