Truman Cruises Past McKendree to Capture Illinois Sweep_Truman State University[트루먼주립대학교]

Truman Cruises Past McKendree to Capture Illinois Sweep_Truman State University[트루먼주립대학교]

 "Sistrunk has had McKendree defenders' heads on a swivel all day." Hall of Famer and Truman play-by-play man, Brad Boyer, said it best when describing the day that Dwight Sistrunk, Jr. had in the Land of Lincoln on Saturday afternoon. The redshirt senior captured the third double-double of his career (first at Truman) with 11 points and 11 assists (tied for third-highest in school history) as the Bulldogs shot a red-hot 57.8 percent to cruise past the Bearcats, 95-79.

Truman improved its win streak to three, overall record to 12-3 and GLVC mark to 4-1 while McKendree fell to 6-6 on the year and 0-4 in league play. Prior to Saturday, Sistrunk's two double-doubles came when he was enrolled at William Jewell against Saint Joseph's on Jan. 9, 2014 (16 points and 13 dimes) and Truman on Jan. 25, 2014 (14 points and 12 rebounds). Since Dwight stepped onto our campus prior to the 2015-16 season, he has had 16 games with at least five assists and the Bulldogs are 13-3 (.813 winning percentage) in those contests.

With all of that being said, Jake Velky was doing his best Jake Velky impression and poured in a team-high 26 points thanks in part to eight three-pointers, the most by a Bulldog this season and tied for the sixth most in program history. The sophomore's silky-smooth stroke was 9-of-11 from the field, including a sizzling 8-for-10 (personal best for both makes and attempts) from behind the arc, to go with four boards and one steal. That marks four times this year that the Waverly, Iowa native has turned in at least 20 points and nine times with at least 15 to put his average at 17.6.

Meanwhile, Connor Erickson had 18 points, three blocks and Cory Myers marched 15 points closer to 1,000 for his career (953) with a casual 6-of-8 performance along with four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Off the bench came the Purple and White's top rebounders including Zach Fischer with eight points and six boards and Billy Daniel with six points, five rebounds, three stuffs, and two assists.

As a team, Truman's eight blocks are tied for third in school history and are tied for the most since Jan. 14, 1995 against Missouri Southern (9). Not only did the Bulldogs swat eight shots to just four by McKendree, but they also out-rebounded the home team to the tune of 38-32 including 31-22 on the defensive glass. Truman also had the upper hand in bench scoring, 17-9, and points in the paint, 53-46.

Out of the gate, there were four ties and three lead changes in the first three minutes and change before someone let the Bulldogs out of their cage. Including the fourth tie at 13-13, Truman rattled off 11 points in a row over the course of 3:21 and was up by nine, 22-13. After the two teams exchanged blows and the margin was still seven, 28-21, in favor of the good guys, they had another run in them, this time 15-0. That spurt lasted nearly four and a half minutes and had the visitors up 43-21 at the 5:11 mark of the first half. During that stretch, Fischer paced the squad with six of his eight points.

At the end of the first half and into the second, the home team scored 14 of a possible 16 points and the deficit was back to 11, 50-39. David Franklin scored 10 of his game-high 28 points during that span and in the second half, he had 18 of those 28. That was one of four times in the second half in which the Bearcats got within 11 of their opponent, but it was never any closer than that as the Bulldogs had an answer each and every time. McKendree won the second half 46-45, but Truman's big first half pushed them over the top.

The Bulldogs have a huge week coming up with home tests against a pair of nationally-ranked programs in No. 17 Southern Indiana on Thursday and No. 13 Bellarmine on Friday. Then, they will play an exhibition at No. 9/10 Creighton on Saturday.