NOV. 27, 2001
Men's Basketball To Host Quincy and Drury in Two Games This Week
The GAME: Truman State University Bulldogs (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association/NCAA Division II) vs. Quincy University Hawks (Great Lakes Valley Conf./NCAA Division II)
Date: Thurs., Nov. 29 Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Kirksville, Mo.
Arena (Capacity): Pershing Arena (2,600)
The GAME: Truman State University Bulldogs (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association/NCAA Division II) vs. Drury University Panthers (Heartland/NCAA Division II)
Date: Sat., Dec. 1 Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Kirksville, Mo.
Arena (Capacity): Pershing Arena (2,600)
Broadcast: KRES 104.7 FM in Moberly, Mo. Brad Boyer, play-by-play and Hank Janssen, commentary. The pregame show begins about 20 minutes before the game
Team Line: Live KRES broadcast by calling 1-800-846-4700. Bulldog Access Code: 6350
Listen for free on the internet to live KRES broadcasts of Bulldog Basketball. Go to regionalradio.com and click on KRES.
TRUMAN (0-3): The Bulldogs will have had 10 days since a 66-52 home-opening loss on Nov. 19 to Missouri-St. Louis. The team opened the season at the Minnesota State Tipoff Classic with a 78-72 loss to Wayne State (Neb.) and a 92-60 defeat at the hands of Minnesota State.
The Bulldogs may be off to an 0-3 start, but the team has had some bright spots in the early portion of the new campaign.
Senior Scott Coykendall (Elmwood, Ill./Farmington HS, Spoon River CC), the Bulldogs' scoring leader at 13.3 points per game, stormed out of the gates early and put up a career high 28 points to go with 11 boards in his first double-double of the year.
True freshman Mark Huppe (Overland Park, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) is averaging 17.0 points over the last two games and has hit on 10 of his first 19 three-pointers, including a stretch of 9-for-14 from beyond the arc. Huppe has come off the bench to lead the team in scoring in the last two games.
The return of sophomore big man Adam Glosier (St. Charles, Mo./West HS, Army) has been a plus. Despite being limited by foul trouble in two of the first three games, Glosier has seen his rebounding totals increase with each game and figures to be a steady force in the middle.
Sophomore guard Torre Finley (Florissant, Mo./Whitfield) grabbed 15 rebounds in the season's first two games and is averaging 5.7 rebounds with 3.3 assists thus far.
TRUMAN VS. MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS: Mark Huppe scored 14 first-half points and keyed the Bulldogs onto a solid start, but Missouri-St. Louis escaped Pershing Arena on Nov. 19 with a 66-52 win over the 'Dogs.
Huppe and junior Jiri Mikl (Ostrava, Czech Republic/Cs. Exil 491, Ostrava) sparked Truman's early success as the two scored 11 of the Bulldogs' first 13 points.
Two quick fouls on Glosier just past the midway point of the first half came as UMSL began a 12-0 run to take the lead for good. The fouls gave Glosier three for the game and sent him to the bench. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs failed to score for more than five minutes as the Rivermen increased the lead.
The second half saw UMSL maintain its advantage, although Truman twice trimmed the lead to five points. With more than 16 minutes to play in the game, sophomore Bret Maxwell (Derby, Iowa/Chariton) connected on back-to-back three-pointers and got the 'Dogs within 43-38. However, that was as close as the Bulldogs would get.
Huppe finished the game with a his best scoring effort of the season, 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting from three-point range and 7-of-13 overall. He hit on 4-of-6 threes in the first half.
In the second half, it was Maxwell's turn as the sophomore scored nine of his career-high 11 points after the break, connecting on three second-half treys.
For UMSL, Jarrett Brown led the way with 13 points, while Scott Kassel and Deryn Carter added 12 apiece.
QUINCY (1-2): The Hawks opened their season with a 71-61 home victory over Hannibal-LaGrange, but have since dropped two straight, both in the GLVC. QU's first loss was a 106-100 overtime decision at the hands of top-ranked Kentucky Wesleyan The other was a 97-88 loss versus Southern Indiana.
Junior Jackson Jones, a 6-7 forward, leads QU in scoring and rebounding, averaging 21 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Jones scored 27 in the loss to Southern Indiana and had 18 in the team's other two games.
Junior center Brian McNeil (20.0 ppg) has topped the 20-point barrier twice in three games, putting up 23 versus HLG and 21 against Kentucky Wesleyan. McNeil is also QU's second-leading rebounder, at 7.7 rpg. He's shooting 63.9 percent from the field, while Jones has connected on 54.8 percent.
Thursday's game will mark the first road contest of the season for Hawks.
Series Record WITH QUINCY: Series tied 47-47 ... The 'Dogs won 29 of the first 37 games of the series, but have since gone 18-39 versus the Hawks ... Truman has won four straight at home vs. Quincy.
TRUMAN VS. QUINCY (JAN. 22, 2001): A slow start spelled trouble for the Bulldogs, who managed just four points in the first nine-plus minutes, as Quincy defeated Truman 59-47 on Jan. 22 last season.
Quincy started the game on a 13-4 run, but Truman battled back to get within four, 17-13, with 6:51 to go before the half. The Hawks, however, ended the half by outscoring the 'Dogs 22-8 en route to a 39-21 advantage at the break.
To start the second, the Bulldogs held Quincy scoreless over the first 5:45, but could only get back within 13 points, 39-26.
Truman shot just 26.2 percent from the floor for the game, compared to 33.3 percent for Quincy. The Hawks only connected on 24.1 percent of their shots in the second half, but held on.
Then-senior Brian Brown, Coykendall and Matt Beran (Victor, Iowa/HLV-Victor) were each saddled by early foul trouble and neither played more than 24 minutes. Brown still ended the game with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
DRURY (2-2): The Panthers have won two in a row after suffering back-to-back losses to open the season. Drury opened with an 86-80 road loss at Midwestern State (Texas) and fell by a 77-66 margin at Oakland City (Ind.). However, the Panthers bounced back in their Pizza Hut Classic with an 80-73 victory over Langston and a 91-85 win over North Alabama.
Senior all-America guard Matt Miller has been sidelined by a foot injury over the Panthers' last two games, but leads the team with a scoring average of 19.5 points per game. Miller had 24 points in the loss to MSU. He's expected to play versus Truman.
Senior forward Brandon Morris is the team's leading rebounder (9.8 rpg) and second-leading scorer (18.0 ppg). He was named MVP of the Pizza Hut Classic after averaging 25 points and 10.5 rebounds.
Sophomore center Chris Mortellaro averages 17.8 points and 8.5 rebounds and freshman guard Frank Bennett is also in double figures, scoring 10.8 per game. Bennett has connected on nine of 17 three-pointers this year (.529).
Sophomore guard De'Andre Johnson, filling in for an injured Ke'Lan Mitchell, is averaging 7.5 assists over the last two games.
SERIES RECORD WITH DRURY: Drury leads 6-2 ... The Bulldogs' only wins in the series came in 1923 at Drury and at home in 1997 ... Truman has dropped three in a row to the Panthers.
TRUMAN VS. DRURY (Dec. 2, 2000): The Bulldogs and Panthers waged a tight battle in the first half with four ties and seven lead changes, but Drury pulled away in the second half, handing Truman a 76-64 road loss on Dec. 2, 2000 in Springfield.
The 'Dogs held an early 14-9 lead in the first half after a three-pointer from Aaron Mueller (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran North) and an Owen layup, but Drury went on a 13-3 run to take the lead and ended the half on a 7-3 spurt for a 31-28 halftime advantage. The second half saw the Panthers extend the lead as wide as 16 points. Truman closed to within eight with 3:22 to play, but could get no closer.
Brown led all scorers with 22 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the year. Peterson finished with 14 points and a career high nine rebounds, while Nathan Owen (Cape Girardeau, Mo./Central HS, SE Missouri State) had 12 points.
Coaches records: Jack Schrader is in his seventh season at the helm of the Bulldogs and has a record of 80-90.
Mike Foster is in the second year of his collegiate head coaching career and has a record of 11-18.
Gary Stanfield is in his 11th year with Drury and has a career record of 193-94.
INJURY REPORT: Senior guard Nathan Owen (Cape Girardeau, Mo./Central, Southeast Missouri State) is expected to miss the next few weeks with a broken hand.
UP NEXT: After battling Quincy and Drury this week at home, the 'Dogs will travel to Jefferson City for a Dec. 8 clash with Lincoln before returning home for a Dec. 10 meeting with Culver-Stockton, Truman's last home game before conference action begins in January.
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